SAVETHEM
by Edokina
Summary: A friend of Yugi's grandfather recently opened his own pizzeria based on some popular 80s characters, using the animatronics he found in the basement of the new place. Wanting to earn a few bucks on his own, Yugi takes the available night watch job. He soon realizes that the animatronics are a bit... quirky. Contains puzzleshipping.
1. Night 0

**Hello! I finally got my account back from the void, and glad to be writing again!**

 **I love FNAF and thought, well geeze THAT would be an easy series to crossover with, anybody could be a night guard. And so I had the idea to make poor little Yugi do it :D**

 **I started this before FNAF 3 was even announced, so there's no Springtrap or much of anything else that was revealed in that game (save for maybe a bit that sneaked in at the end, as I cannot ignore information if I can remember it. Don't hold it against me!). I don't claim any of the events I describe of the animatronics' past as fact, they're a combination of mostly theories I've heard about (a large portion inspired by MatPat's Game Theory on YouTube), and whatever I thought would make for an interesting read. It's taken me a long time, but I do hope you enjoy SAVETHEM!**

* * *

Yugi stared at the same math problem for what felt like an eternity. He was having difficulty focusing after finishing the homework he had in his other subjects, and it was already two in the morning. He glanced at the staircase, imagining his bed upstairs. _Maybe it won't kill me to skip math this one time…_

But then he imagined Atem scolding him for it, despite the fact that Atem probably wouldn't even ask.

Yugi sighed, and gave it another go. He eventually figured it out, but got depressed all over again when he got to the next one. And even more so when he realized he still had to do it fourteen more times. _I hate college._

Yugi was studying to be a game designer. Not for video games, but for board and card games. But he still took the basic courses alongside the necessary ones for his career, to help him be more well-rounded in the long run. Nights like this made him regret that decision though. Especially when he could probably survive with the money Atem made from being a famous duelist and Grandpa made from the shop. He hated the idea of taking without contributing, though. They still lived with Yugi's grandpa since he was really getting up there in years, and there was no way Yugi would ever suggest he go into a retirement home. Not with everything he'd done for Yugi. He couldn't even help Grandpa with the shop, since his only time to spend with Atem happened during store hours, and even after Atem went to bed Yugi still had school.

Atem frequently worked the late shift at one of Kaiba's casinos. Yugi was shocked when Kaiba approached the King of Games with the position, because they were always such huge rivals. But Kaiba explained that someone famous working at his establishment would really rake in the crowds, and the money.

"What if I lose?" Atem asked, having a secret but deep-rooted distaste for games of luck.

"Who cares? You actually _should_ lose, at least the first few games. Get their hopes up. Then crush them with everything you have when the time is right!" Kaiba responded. Atem frowned.

"You're not worried about me losing my title to someone with beginner's luck?"

"Not a chance. That title is yours until you lose at Duel Monsters, at my hand! That said, you won't be playing Duel Monsters."

"Fine. But I want a late shift, so I can still spend time with my friends."

Yugi sighed again and forced his concentration back to math. He powered through the next five problems. _Atem should be home around 7… I've gotta finish this and get some sleep so we can spend some time together before school._ He pressed on again.

* * *

"Yugi, Aibou, wake up." Upon hearing Atem's voice Yugi forced his eyes open. "Hey, Babe. Thanks for waking me up! What do you wanna do today?" he smiled.

Atem frowned, "You look exhausted. You sure you don't want to sleep more before class starts?"

"Of course I'm sure! This is the only time I get to see you. Let's relax with a movie, since you just got back from work. I'll make us breakfast!"

Atem smiled at his enthusiasm. "You're right. If we didn't make this effort then we'd never see each other."

Yugi cooked them pancakes for the first half hour of the movie, to save a bit of time. Class didn't start until six, but Atem still needed to get plenty of sleep before his next shift.

He went up to bed around 2PM, leaving Yugi to try and power through the homework that remained. He was ashamed to admit that he couldn't make it through all of the math after all.

While he worked on the last problem his grandfather came in, "Yugi, my friend recently started his own restaurant business!" he said with excitement in his voice.

"Really? That's awesome Grandpa! What kind of restaurant is it?"

"A pizzeria, like when he was younger! They've got an arcade, good food, and of course, singing animatronics!"

"Animatronics? Grandpa, those things haven't been 'in' since the 90s…"

"Which is why they're due for a comeback, he says! Why don't you and Atem go check it out tomorrow?"

"I dunno, Grandpa… that doesn't really sound like our thing, even with an arcade."

"Hoho, you might be surprised! Just do me a favor and check it out!"

Yugi eyed him suspiciously, "You didn't happen to promise your friend that the King of Games would be there, did you?"

"What? Of course not! I would do no such thing! How could you be suspicious of your poor, old grandfather?"

Yugi's gaze didn't waiver.

After a moment of silence, he gave in. "Alright, fine. It's only been open a few days, and it's doing pretty well! But he thought it might boost his business even further if the King of Games showed up…"

Yugi sighed. "I'll tell him and let him decide. But don't you guilt trip him if he decides he doesn't want to go!"

"Of course not, of course not! He even promised not to pester or announce you guys! You can blend right in if you want! Here's the address." He handed him a small torn notebook page. Yugi took a look. It wasn't too far from where they lived, only fifteen minutes by train. "Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria? What in the heck is a Fazbear?"

"He was an icon in the 80s! Or so Cecil tells me. My friend- Cecil- he found Freddy and his friends in the basement of the building he bought. He had plans to build a pizzeria anyway, but finding those guys just set off a light bulb for him! He couldn't find anything that would legally stop him from using them or the name, since the original business went out a couple decades ago and he couldn't get a hold of anyone from the original company. But maybe a few people looking for a nostalgia trip will make their way in, too!"

Yugi rolled his eyes. Why bother to create something your own when you could just take someone else's once successful idea with no consequence? _Guess it's not for me to judge. After all, they used to be famous. Apparently._

* * *

The next morning when Atem got home Yugi pitched the idea to him. "What are animatronics?" was his first question.

"Robots. But not as cool as it sounds. They're basically programmed to sing and do something that vaguely resembles dancing. Maybe wish you a happy birthday."

"Sounds interesting. Let's check it out!"

"R-really? Well, if you actually want to…"

* * *

 **Sorry about the short start, the rest will be longer. Stay tuned!**


	2. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria

**Here's chapter two! It's longer, as promised. I'm thinking I'll try to update once a week, if not more often. The story is done, it's just a matter of getting it all on here. So rest assured, you'll be able to read the ending of this one should you decide you want to! Also, I forgot to note: I totally ignored why Yugi and Atem are separate. This _is_ set in a time after the Millennium items were sealed away... but it really didn't feel relevant to the story to explain why Atem has his own body. I hope that doesn't ruin it for anybody. Use your imagination? Anywho, happy reading!**

* * *

The place was a little less than humble on the outside. The building was bright and colorful, with glass doors and large windows so you could see how much fun everyone inside was having, obscured only by the Help Wanted that read: 12PM-6AM, security guard willing to work for great pay! Inquire within, or call- Yugi stopped reading at that point, he knew he wouldn't remember the number for more than a few seconds anyway. There were a few cardboard cut-outs of the characters standing outside with signs that had the store hours and show times posted.

It was noisy when they entered. Lots of children running around, some sitting in their seats eating pizza or cake. From the entrance they could see a few of the arcade machines tucked away in another room, it a source of chaos in itself with each game playing melodies and sound effects to get your attention. Front-and-center was a stage, upon which stood a lavender rabbit holding an orange guitar, a yellow duck, or maybe a chicken- it was a little hard to tell from this distance- with a bib and a large plastic cupcake on a plate. Between them stood a brown bear with a top hat and a microphone. Currently they stood silent.

"Hey hey hey, parents and kiddies! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria!" Yugi and Atem both jumped back, shocked by the sudden loud voice. It wasn't human, either. It came from another animatronic, that looked similar to the bear on stage. However this one looked more shiny, like maybe he was encased in plastic while the one on stage was more like fur. It also had large round red dots on its face, reminding Yugi of Pikachu. His guess was that it was meant to be rosy cheeks. "Uhm, thank you, Freddy?" Yugi squeaked out, staring into the large blue eyes. "Is it your birthday today, little boy?" asked Freddy, and Yugi frowned. "No, we just came for some fun." "Then you must be here for the pizza, games, and music! Just head on over to the green counter if you'd like to order food! Or, you can head straight for the arcade! And don't forget, our next show starts at 10AM!" And with that, the animatronic walked away to pester another family that had just entered. Their son seemed to think it was the coolest thing ever though, so Yugi couldn't knock the effort.

They went to the aforementioned green counter, where the perky cashier greeted them with a huge smile, "Good morning guys, what can I get for you?"

"Sorry, first time here. What do you recommend?" Atem replied.

"Bonnie's vegetarian pizza is my personal favorite!"

"Sounds good to me," Yugi replied, looking over at Atem. They agreed, and figured a small would be plenty between them.

"Here's your number! Just have a seat anywhere and we'll find you!" The cashier replied after they paid.

"Thanks. …Hey, I have a question. That bear animatronic- it seemed to respond to me when I talked to it. Is that just a weird coincidence?"

"Oh no, they have pre-programmed ways to reply to anything the owner thought they might be asked. Of course, there's a lot of stuff they don't reply to. But it's still cool to have a robotic bunny tell you where the bathroom is!"

"Heh, I bet the kids sure get a kick out of it." Yugi smirked.

They wandered around a bit more before finding a cute little sectioned off area on the left side with a play structure that resembled a pirate ship. Across from the play structure was another pirate ship, this one more closely resembling a stage. There stood a red fox with an eye patch and a hook hand. He looked fuzzy, so he was probably more closely related to the other stage animatronics. He wore ripped brown pants with a rope tied around the waist like a belt. Yugi thought he looked really dangerous for a kid's restaurant because of his hook hand and sharp teeth, but he was high up enough that unless enough children got together and figured out how to stack themselves or objects high enough they probably couldn't reach him. There were tables and chairs positioned far back enough so that they still had a clear view of the fox.

They decided this was where they'd eat, since most kids seemed more interested in the arcade or impatiently waiting in the other room for ten o' clock, when the stage animatronics would start their band.

"I'm really enjoying myself," Atem said with a smile. Yugi was surprised, "Really? I thought for sure you'd get bored within the first five minutes."

"You said this place would be very 1980s. I wasn't around for that particular decade," he said with a chuckle, "So it's kind of like going back in time. It's cool to see what people could do then, and what entertained them."

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it," Yugi smiled, "And here I always thought _I_ was the optimist."

Just then stereotypical pirate music kicked up, "Ahoy there, maties! How is Foxy's crew doing today?" A few children stopped whatever they were doing to turn and yell, "Great, Captain Foxy!"

"Argh, that be the spirit! But what's this? I see some new faces! Come to join me pirate crew, have ye?" He looked right at Yugi and Atem, who both hesitated. Remembering what the cashier had said, Yugi spoke loudly, "Aye aye, Cap'n!"

"Argh, that be the spirit! Let's all recite the pirate oath, in honor of the new recruits!"

The same few children started shouting along with Foxy, "Whether we're on land, whether we're on sea. True pirates we'll always be! We'll eat our veggies, and do our homeworks. And after that, enjoy the pirate perks!"

"I want to experience more of the 1980s if there was really this much cheese involved," Atem said through his laughter. "I think they're trying to be way more health-conscious than they were in the 80s. Consumers used to be much more responsible for their stupidity," Yugi replied, wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so hard.

Foxy then began to sing pirate-related songs. It seemed that he was meant to perform in between the main band's scheduled performances. They knew he would be finished for a while when he announced that Freddy Fazbear's band would be playing in the main hall in ten minutes before the lights around him dimmed and the light that had shone in his eye went out, and he slumped over a bit.

"Poor Foxy, forced to be a side attraction and not the main event. I really liked him though! And he has a chance at fame if he's always performing between shows!" Yugi smiled.

On their way to the main hall they were stopped by a large white and pink fox, with a pink snout, a painted-in lip outline that reminded Yugi of lipstick, and those same rosy cheeks that Freddy had. Upon her shoulder sat a green parrot. "Ahoy, maties! Hope you're enjoying your stay at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria!" The fox spoke, and soon after the parrot repeated, "Pizzeria!"

"Uh, yeah! Who are you?" Yugi responded.

"Argh, you can call me Lady Foxy! And this here is Polly!" "Polly want a cracker!"

The couple stifled a chuckle, "Nice to meet you, Lady Foxy! We're going to see the band play!"

"The show starts at 10AM! Better hurry and find a seat!" The animatronic responded, before carrying on its way.

They did exactly that. They took the first two seats closest to them. Yugi took note of the cute, possibly animatronic boy holding a fake balloon and a sign that simply read "Balloons!" There was indeed a few balloons tied to a counter next to him, presumably where they sold the advertised product.

His attention was pulled away from the balloon kid when he heard one of the on-stage animatronics speak, "Hello, kids! Is everyone having a good time at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria?"

There was a roar of "Yeah!" from the children and parents in the crowd who were really into it.

"Glad to hear it! In case you didn't know, I'm the one and only- Freddy Fazbear! And these are my band mates, and closest friends- Chika the Chicken and Bonnie the Bunny!"

"How creative…" Yugi muttered, although Atem was still enjoying the cheese factor. He vaguely wondered how he could be the one and only when there was obviously at least one more Freddy Fazbear walking around, but he assumed the owner had just hoped no one would question it.

The band played for a good hour before finally saying goodbye and shutting down. Just then a rabbit that looked similar to Bonnie- but again, looking more plastic and with rosy cheeks- came in asking who wanted to go to the arcade, while a rosy-cheeked (and weirdly curvy) Chika offered to escort young ones to the bathroom. Yugi decided to take her up on her offer, and agreed to meet with Atem in the arcade after.

He walked with a small group of children and adults to the restroom. He'd never heard any stories of animatronics being so interactive, and helpful. He had to admit, it was pretty cool despite their lame dialogue.

He finished up in the bathroom and wandered back out into the hall. He was polite enough to wait while all the boys occupied the facilities, their tiny bladders about to burst from sitting through the hour-long show. By the time he was back outside, Chika was nowhere to be seen. He'd heard her outside earlier offering to escort everyone to the arcade now.

He turned down a few corners, wondering why the back halls with the bathrooms were sort of labyrinthine. No wonder the kids needed an escort here.

Finally he came across Lady Foxy, who was just walking down the hall. "Lady Foxy," Yugi said, wondering if he could tap into that pre-programmed phrasebook of theirs. The fox stopped and turned to him, "Could you please take me to the arcade?"

She stared at him for a moment, and Yugi could swear he heard a faint buzzing coming from her. He wondered if they all did that, and he could only hear it now that it wasn't so noisy.

Finally the fox replied, "Argh, of course Matie! Just follow ol' Lady Foxy!" "Foxy!" echoed the parrot.

Sure enough, Lady Foxy lead him to the arcade. "Argh, if you ever need help again, just holler for ol' Lady Foxy!" "Thank you!" Yugi replied as the animatronic turned and walked away. He entered the arcade and looked around for his boyfriend, finally spotting him sitting behind the wheel of a racing game with a crowd of children watching him. "C'mon, Yugi!" "You can do it!" "You're the King of Games!" they cheered. Yugi was still taken aback when people referred to Atem as "Yugi." They never really felt the need to explain to anyone that Yugi was now two people, and the King of Games this whole time was really an ancient Pharaoh named Atem.

But then, who would believe them anyway. The two of them were so evenly matched that neither of them really cared or even kept track of who officially held the title.

The crowed erupted in cheers. Atem must have won. Suddenly all the children were asking him for an autograph, and the one kid who was lucky enough, or perhaps just nerdy enough, to actually bring a pen started charging tokens to use it.

Atem frowned, "Hey, wouldn't it be nice of you to share your pen? I promise I'll give it back. I'll even pay for you to play a game with me, any game in the room you want." The kid hesitated at first, but finally gave in. Yugi watched Atem sign autographs for about five minutes before he stood up from the arcade machine. He gave the child back his pen and smiled, "So, which game would you like to play?"

The kid stared wide-eyed up at him, "I wanna race you! Please! I don't care if I lose!" Atem gave him a thumbs-up and a wink, "Sounds like fun!"

 _You've really learned the art of fan service, haven't you?_ Yugi thought with a flat face. He squeezed in between the children and tapped Atem on the shoulder, "Hey, when you're done with that race, meet me at the skee ball?" Atem looked up and nodded before handing the child a token.

It didn't take long, but by the time Atem was finished and made his way to Yugi, Yugi had already won a good amount of tickets. They played a few games of skee ball together before moving on to other games.

Around one o' clock they decided they'd better start heading home so Atem could get some sleep. Before that though, they decided to exchange their tickets at the prize counter.

When they got to the counter they were greeted by yet another Freddy Fazbear, however this one had a much more yellow tone to its fur. "Wel-Wel-c-c-come to the Prize C-c-c-corner! I hope you enjoyed-joyed the game-joyed the games!" it waved at them, but didn't move much beyond that, and repeated itself every time someone new walked up to the counter. _No wonder the poor thing is glitching_ Yugi thought. There were a few people behind the counter helping to count tickets and trade them for prizes. Eventually someone was able to help the couple, "What can I get for you guys?"

They had, of course, agreed on getting all of the Dual Monsters packs they could as soon as they saw them. Even after buying them out they still had enough tickets for small pieces of candy.

They spent the trip home opening the packs and arguing over who should get the better ones (each of course arguing that the other should take them). Once home, they both went straight to bed.

* * *

Yugi fumbled with his alarm, trying to shut it off before it woke Atem. He still had school today, but the nap definitely helped.

On the ride to school he recalled the trip to Freddy's, _That was way more fun that I could have imagined. I didn't think Atem would like it so much, and his enjoying it definitely helped me forget how silly the whole this was. The arcade was actually pretty cool, too. I wonder if the employees have any fun? Ah, I can't work a day shift or else I'd never be able to see Atem._ Suddenly he remembered the Help Wanted sign. _I wonder how well "pays well" is…_

Soon as the train pulled up to his stop, he got out and walked to school.

* * *

 **Shit's about to get REAL! Heh heh. Leave a review to let me know how I'm doing? I know I'm pretty rusty on my Atem but I hope he's, at least for the most part, in character.**


	3. Night 1

**This chapter is much longer, hope you've got your popcorn ready! Each of the nights will be longer chapters, since they're the bulk of the story and I don't see a reason to split them up. If I did then they'd be too short.**

* * *

The next day after Atem went to bed, Yugi asked his grandfather for Cecil's phone number. "Want to give him a good review?" He smiled. "Well, that and I saw a job offer sign in the window yesterday. The hours would be perfect for me to earn a little extra cash and still spend time with Atem."

"Ah, I commend the idea! Here you are." He wrote the number down and handed it to Yugi. He went into the living room and sat on the couch, dialing the number from his cell phone.

"Hello, Cecil speaking?"

"Hello Cecil, sir. My name is Yugi Mutou-"

"Sugoroku's grandson! What can I do for you?"

"I saw the help wanted sign in the window yesterday, and I was wondering-"

"Ah just say the word m'boy, the job is yours! I know you came in yesterday, I've had a lot of traffic today from kids hoping to see you again! In fact, if you want a day shift I can-"

"No, no, you see, with the way my life is at the moment a day shift really wouldn't suit me. I need a way to earn money that doesn't interfere with what I've already got going on."

"Night shift it is then! And only top dollar for my friend's grandson! It's a piece of cake though, really! The doors all get locked, there's a metal gate that gets put up around the front windows to prevent hooligans from simply smashing them in, and hey- your grandfather told me you're in school, right? You can just hang out in the office all night and do your homework!"

"Really? That sounds perfect! When should I start?"

"Can you come in today? We've gotta get some paperwork out of the way first."

"Of course. I still have time before my first class, so I'll head over now."

"Great! Meet you there!"

* * *

The next morning, Yugi told Atem about his new job.

"A security guard? You? Yugi… I'm not comfortable with this. You're… uhm, how do I put this nicely…"

"I know, I'm not super strong or anything. But Cecil said it's not about strength. All I've gotta do is keep an eye out and make sure nobody gets in, or that nobody hid anywhere and stayed overnight to mess with stuff. I'll be in the office all night, with a camera system, and if I see anything funny there's a panic button that calls the police. Plus there's a guy before me, he'll probably have chased anyone who _did_ sneak in out by the time I get there. Heck he said the animatronics' night mode is basically a security system in itself, since they wander the halls freely. Something about their cervix locking up."

"Their what now?" Atem raised an eyebrow.

"Er, maybe it was 'servos.' Anywho, they're programmed to call the police when they see anything suspicious. So I'll be totally fine!"

Atem hesitated. "Alright… but promise you'll text me tonight. Often."

"Fine, if it'll make you feel better." He wrapped his arms around Atem, and they snuggled until Atem's bedtime.

* * *

Yugi showed up promptly at 11:30. He was asked to show up a bit early this night so the guy working from 6 to 12 could teach him about the cameras and such.

Yugi knocked on the back entrance he was showed earlier that day, and after a moment he heard the sound of locks unlocking, and finally the door opened. "Hey, Kid." Yugi stepped inside, "Hey there. My name's Yugi!"

"Yeah, Cecil said the King of Games wanted to come work the night shift. Heh, honestly I didn't think you'd show up."

Yugi tried to laugh with him, "I guess it is a bit farfetched. But, I have a strange schedule, and this is what works for me."

"Fair enough. I'm James, by the way." He held out his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, James!"

James was fairly tall, about Atem's height. He had relatively short, black hair with bangs that went down just a little past his ears. He had green eyes and held himself with confidence.

James motioned towards the room, "So, here we are. Central command." Yugi looked around. It looked like a pretty standard office. There were a few file cabinets in the corner of the room, a large desk set near the opposite wall, with the desk facing the open area of the room so that when you sat at it your back would be to the wall. On the desk was a slim monitor and a few semi-organized stacks of paper. "Oh, by the way, all the cameras can be viewed through this thing." James showed him a tablet he had been carrying with him. There was a small map in the corner of it, the building, if Yugi recognized it correctly. The stage was currently displayed, taking up the rest of the screen. "That's pretty cool. So you just touch the little map to change the camera?"

"Yup, piece of cake."

"Got it!" Yugi took another look around the room, and this time he noticed the same lower-able gate that currently covered the front windows, only hanging in front of the door that lead to the office. It seemed to be hooked up to a large battery. "What's all that…?"

"That… is… well… our only line of defense."

"What?"

James sighed, "Nobody believes me, but there's something not right with those animatronics… They seem fine until about eleven o' clock, an hour after all the other employees go home. Then they get… weird…"

"Weird, how…?"

"I… I'm only telling you this because if you don't figure it out soon, you're probably done for. Believe me or not, but those things are evil."

"What? They're robots, how can they be evil?"

"I don't know! But they're always… staring at me… through the cameras, through the doorway. They've run at me, full force with everything they have before. I flickered this at them and they stopped short and seem to resume their business." He pulled out a heavy-duty flashlight. "I'd hoped there was a reason for the 'no flash photography' sign by the stage." He then motioned with it at the electric-powered door, "This contraption is the only sure way to keep them out of the office. And I know the gate itself won't stop them for long…They're way too strong for it, but I haven't figured out how to build anything stronger that won't get me in trouble for messing up the office. Even with this I had to tell them it's a project I'm working on… So you hit this button here," he pointed at the red switch on the battery, "it sends electrical currents through the gate. They get a good shock, just enough to reset them. No real harm done…"

"No harm? You sound afraid for your life! Assuming this isn't a joke, why the hell are you still here?"

"I got in with some bad people… this is the best job I can find right now… it pays really well, but if I don't risk dying here then I'm risking death out there anyway. Somehow robotic animals aren't as bad as people. At least until I find something better. And trust me- I'm looking."

Yugi looked him up and down, unsure of whether or not to trust him.

"Look," James spoke up amidst the silence, "I get it. You think I'm nuts. But as soon as you see that glow in their eyes you'll know I'm not."

More silence. Suddenly a tiny alarm clock sound went off, causing them both to jump. James grabbed at his watch, shutting off the alarm. "It's midnight. Good luck. I'm clocking out and putting this crap behind me for another night." He went to the computer, probably punching out. "One more thing. They seem to get really upset after about 4AM. Stay on your guard the whole time, but especially after four. Here's the keys, the morning MOD will be here to take them at six. She'll see herself in, and she'll take over from there. Take down the gate and the battery, take it home on the dolly there and recharge it."

"I can't do that!" Yugi protested, immediately thinking of a number of reasons he wouldn't be able to.

James was quiet for a moment. "Fine, then leave it here and I'll be back for it tomorrow. But if you won't help me keep it charged after tonight then I'm taking it home with me next time."

 _This is insane…_ "Fine. Because if things turn out as crazy as you're saying, I'm quitting after tonight anyway."

James was quiet, "Thanks."

Then something occurred to Yugi, "Wait, they weren't so crazy when I was here a few days ago. And they can't just, stop being 'weird' at 6AM."

"I don't know, they just stop at 6AM. Maybe they know the restaurant is opening soon."

"How do you know all that if you were only here until 12?"

"I've worked your shift. Soon as I realized what was going on I begged Cecil to move me… Sorry, kid. But from what he told me, you're the one that turned down the normal job. This is all I can get."

"Well if I knew crazy animatronics were going to be involved-"

"Too late… Sorry. I've left notes, taped to the underside of the desk. That's all I know so far. And I'm still willing to help if you come up with any new strategies, or notice anything else that's… weird. Believe it or not, I do feel bad forcing you into this position… And, I can't say I blame you if you quit tomorrow, either. I won't hold it against you. But for tonight… good luck. And," his eyes flickered towards the electric door, "Watch your back a little more." Yugi turned to see where James had glanced. A dark figure stood about ten feet from the doorway. It had no ears, no top hat, and no creepy girlish figure. It sort of resembled Chika. Yugi looked down at the tablet, and decided to check on the stage. To his horror, Chika was indeed not on stage. "Read the notes." He heard James open the door and slip out. Yugi turned to look, but the fear of what James had told him caused him to quickly return his gaze to the doorway. Through the grating of the gate, Yugi could tell the chicken had moved closer. He was frozen in fear.

 _I'm so not getting any homework done tonight._

He decided to flicker the flashlight at Chika. She still looked the same as she had the other day, but the darkness and his current knowledge made her even more scary than any foe he had faced before. Finally he watched her turn to the right and walk off towards Pirate's Cove.

Yugi hurried quietly to the desk, and felt around the underside until he found a notebook. He opened it and found James's notes, scribbled in neat but rushed handwriting. There were a few pages of notes, each one dated. Finally he came across a simple looking list:

 _Notes to the new guy:_

 _1) Toy Chika is very calm. She very rarely even comes near the office. Frequently found near the basement door. Not sure if this holds any significance._

 _2) The Freddies hate to be stared at. If anything it agitates them into attacking. This is especially true of the yellow one. Flashlight effective on Freddy and Toy Freddy. If you see the yellow one, flip on the battery and hide._

 _3) The Foxies are the opposite. Check their Cove often. They somehow know when I haven't checked in a while. Have not figured out how often I should check, but you can't be too careful. Foxy sprints at the gate as soon as he reaches the hall, flashlight ineffective._

Yugi took this moment to check on Pirate's Cove. Both Foxys were seen walking around, looking at nothing Yugi could see as important. He wondered how Foxy got off the stage when it was so tall, but it wasn't important right now. He returned his gaze to the notebook.

 _4) The Bonnies are very aggressive. They like to peer in from the sides- Bonnie on the left and Toy Bonnie on the right- usually teaming up, presumably so they can see as much of the room as possible. Flashlight effective on Toy Bonnie, however Bonnie seems to only leave when it's satisfied that I'm not here. Also, Toy Bonnie wanders throughout most of the building whereas Bonnie seems to prefer the main hall._

 _5) Chika wanders around the entire building. I know she and Toy Bonnie are programmed to look for lost children during the day. Flashlight effective._

 _6) I think they're getting more aggressive as time goes on… Not sure if they're learning my habits, or if all this taking such a toll on me that it's getting hard to keep up. Let me know your thoughts._

 _7) Start keeping an eye on the balloon boy. I think I saw him move last night._

 _Please feel free to take up a few pages for your own notes. We'll get a second notebook if we have to. We'll need to use each other's experiences if we're going to survive this job._

Yugi checked the Cove again, then flipped over to the hall outside the door. Chika was back. He stepped in front of the door, forcing himself to look at it, and flashed the light a few times again. Before long she wandered off.

Yugi was unsure of what to do with himself. The animatronics all seemed to contradict each other- what upset one didn't matter to another. The only way he could figure out how to deal with them was to actually know which one was coming. He wished he'd asked why James didn't leave the battery on the whole time, but there had to be a really good reason that he didn't…

 _Oh Gods, I'm sorry Atem. I should have listened to you. I mean, there's no way even you knew it would be this bad- and on my very first night even. But if I'd listened when you said you weren't comfortable then I wouldn't be here!_

A tear slid down his cheek as he checked the Cove again. Then the main hall. The stage. Prize counter.

The yellow one was gone.

Yugi took a deep breath, and let it out.

He checked the bathrooms. He saw two white, beady eyes staring at him from the girl's bathroom. He couldn't tell who it was in the dark.

Next he checked the basement door's camera. There was a large "EMPLOYEES ONLY" sign on the door. Toy Chika was indeed staring at it. However after a moment she turned to the camera. Those beady white eyes once again bore into him, and she was somehow missing her beak. He quickly switched cameras back to the Cove.

The night went on like this. It felt like a week could have passed with him sitting there, wondering if the missing animatronics were just going about their business or were coming up with ways to…

He shook his head and checked his phone for the time, trying to push the thoughts of death from his mind again. He was so focused on the time that he didn't notice the missed calls or text messages. 2AM. He stifled a groan.

Just then he heard another groan, though whoever released this one wasn't holding back. In fact, it sounded like they were having trouble breathing…

He heard a familiar buzzing. Lady Foxy from a few days ago flashed into his mind.

He checked the Cove, but Lady Foxy was still there. Just then the gate began to shake violently. Yugi fumbled for the battery switch, and he heard the most horrifying screech before shining his flashlight through the gate. He caught sight of Bonnie's backside.

Bonnie had tried to get in.

 _Maybe I should be hiding under the desk… but then I can't reach the battery…_

Yugi sat there shaking, still in a panic. He couldn't decide if he should move away from the battery or not. Couldn't James have made it remote-controlled?

The next two hours were fairly quiet. He flipped mainly between Pirate's Cove and outside the office, only moving when he had to flash the light at Chika, or the one other time Bonnie stopped by. Chika showed up with Freddy once, but the flashlight drove the both of them off.

Yugi checked the time again. 3:47. He was terrified now.

He checked the camera outside the office once more. He was shocked to find Toy Chika there, when the notebook had said she was the least aggressive and stayed near the basement.

Which meant James had never needed to flash the light at her. Or deal with her trying to attack at all. Which meant Yugi had no idea either.

He peered around the doorway, and sure enough there she was. He flashed the flashlight at her. She took a step forward. Yugi ducked back behind the doorway, his hand on the switch for the battery. The footsteps got closer. On the screen he could watch her come towards the doorway. He flipped the switch.

"Hey, can you see me?"

His heart skipped a beat. He couldn't move.

"Can you hear me?"

He peered back around the doorway. There stood a small girl, no older than 7. She wore a cute little pink dress with white Mary Jane shoes. A gold heart-shaped pendant hung from her neck. She had blond pigtails sticking out from either side of her head.

"H-hey, what are you doing here so late, little one?" Yugi tried to sound strong, but he couldn't figure out where Toy Chika had gone and how this girl had gotten there without the animatronic attacking her.

"You _can_ see and hear me! I wanted to ask _you_ what _you_ were doing here so late!"

"I- I'm just doing my job… You should, come in." He flipped the battery off, "The, uhm, band, they're not-"

"That's not a good idea."

"Huh?"

"I can behave myself right now, though I'm honestly not sure why. But I'm afraid of what I'd do to you if I was allowed any closer."

"What?"

"The Marionette told me I should ask for your help. He senses that you have a strong spirit."

Yugi's head began to spin. The girl wasn't explaining anything, despite his obvious confusion.

"Look at your camera."

He obliged, and gasped. Where he should see the girl, Toy Chika stood, just staring into the office.

"I'm Toy Chika. I… can't remember my real name anymore. But it's okay! The Marionette says you can help us!"

"Help you? Help you with what?"

"To be free. We all just want to go home… but we're stuck in these animatronic bodies."

"You… you're… haunting, the animatronics?"

"Yeah… but I don't want to anymore. I want to go home. I don't want to hurt you or that James guy, or anyone else ever again. I don't like the screaming anymore…"

Yugi's stomach churned, "Then why do you and the others try?"

"Well, because it's against the rules here. You're not in a suit. Nobody's allowed to be out of their suit here. But… suddenly my mind is just so… clear. You're not an endoskeleton. You're just a person. Like all the people who visit in the daytime."

"Th, that's right. I don't need a suit. Although being dressed up doesn't sound so bad…"

"The suits aren't exactly empty… There's a couple of extra ones in the basement. I can't say I know exactly what's inside, but based on the other night guards' reactions there's a lot of sharp stuff in there."

Yugi cringed. It took all he had not to vomit at the idea. "That's absolutely awful…"

The girl looked shyly at the ground, "I know… now. It never really occurred to me that they might be screaming in pain, not just protest at wanting to be a rule breaker…"

Yugi swallowed hard, "Toy Chika… Chichi? How can I help you and the others find peace?"

"I don't know."

"Then how do you know I even can?"

"The Marionette said so. And you can see me. Nobody else has ever been able to."

"The Marionette? Who is that?"

"Owner Cecil left him in the basement. We heard him say that he was too creepy, and not worth the investment to repair. But that's not fair! He wants to wander around too!"

"I'm sorry, Chichi. I don't know anything about animatronics, so I can't repair him… And, y'know, if his, uhm, mind is as cloudy as yours and the others'…"

"I understand." She looked up at him and smiled shyly, "I like when you call me Chichi. What's your name?"

"I'm Yugi."

"I like your name. I hope you don't get stuffed into a suit!"

Somehow her cuteness made that sentence even more terrifying. "Thanks, that makes two of us."

"Oh! One of the security guards from before used to wear a mask! Foxy said he could see right through it, but it fooled a lot of us. You should try it!"

"R-really? Did the ones it, fooled, ever figure it out?"

"Nope. Foxy even tried to tell us when he could see through it. But our facial recognition software is hard to argue with."

"Okay… thanks. Any other advice?"

"It's almost time. I have to go. If I have the mind to I'll come see you again tomorrow!"

"What? No, Chichi, wait-!" He watched her spirit evaporate, and in her place stood the tall and menacing Toy Chika. This close up, he finally took notice of her creepy cupcake. He hoped it wasn't possessed too, what with its own huge eyes.

She turned and walked away. Yugi stared after her until she turned the corner, out of sight. He checked the cameras. Everybody was in their place. He stood up and removed the gate , placing it in the corner of the room. He figured out how to unhook it from the battery just in time for the morning manager to walk in, "Mornin' Newbie! How was your first night? Hope it wasn't too creepy!" She laughed. "Nah, it wasn't that bad. James showed me his project, he's got me roped into helping with it." Yugi forced a laugh.

"Gah don't be afraid to tell him to do it himself. I can't even figure out why he keeps it here, it looks pretty done as far as portable electric fences go."

"Heh, well you know what they say. There's always room for improvement." Yugi handed over the keys and clocked out.

"Oh by the way, your friend was waiting out front. I told him he couldn't come in, but he seemed really worried about you. I told him he shouldn't be, but since he's here you might as well ride home with him right?"

"R-really? Thanks." Yugi pulled out his phone. 18 messages from Atem. 6 missed calls. He swore under his breath at remembering his broken promise.

He scribbled a quick note for James and taped it to the folded gate:

 _James-_

 _I tried to take the battery home to charge it, but my boyfriend came to pick me up. I can't let him know that I'm helping with your project, but I'll try to find a way to charge it for you tomorrow! Sorry you have to pick up the slack today!_

 _P.S. Text me at this number ASAP:_

Yugi circled the building from the back entrance to the front. Just as expected, he saw a worried Atem staring into the building. "Hey, I'm _really_ sorry I haven't replied! I had my phone silenced and forgot to check it." Yugi hoped the quickest path to forgiveness was a pre-emptive apology and the cutest apologetic look he could muster. Atem rushed over and wrapped his arms around him, "Yugi, I could smack you! Don't ever do that to me again! You knew I was already worried, silenced phone or not how could you forget to check in?"

"I'm sorry. I was so engrossed in my homework. I got it all done though!" He smiled, praying Atem wouldn't see through his lie.

Atem sighed in response. "Let's go get some coffee. I left work early to rush over here, I'm more tired than usual."

 _That makes two of us._ He tried not to shudder at the déjà vu of the sentence he'd said roughly a half hour ago.

* * *

 **Nights one and two are eight pages each... hidden Slender reference? Nah just kidding, the FNAF lore has enough going on without Slenderman.**

 **Hope you're enjoying it so far!**


	4. Night 2

**Thank you for the reviews! Nothing brightens up my day like seeing that people appreciate my work. I hope everyone will continue to enjoy it!**

* * *

It was so nice to get back to his normal life with Atem. The previous night had felt like nothing more than a bad nightmare at this point. He started to believe that's all it was.

Until he got the text.

 _Hey, it's James. If I'm reading your note right, you're coming back tonight?_

Yugi tried to sneak in a reply:

 _Yeah. Try to get a Freddy head. Explain later._

He put his phone back in his pocket and asked Atem if he wanted to try squeezing a movie in before going home to sleep.

* * *

Unfortunately, Yugi hadn't considered how much sleep he would be losing by taking up his job. He'd only considered the fact that he'd be working at the same time as Atem so it wouldn't interfere with their time together.

However, Atem didn't have school. So he could go to sleep at two and still get plenty of sleep. Yugi only got about four hours.

 _There's no two ways about it… I'll have to take a little nap when I get home…_ he thought on the train to school. He received a text, and checked his phone.

 _Believe it or not, I got the mask. Got time to explain?_

 _Yeah. I have a theory. We might be able to fool some of them into thinking we're one of them with it. Their facial recognition probably doesn't work very well when they're scanning one of their own, right?_

 _That's actually crazy enough to work… I'll see if I can run any tests tonight with the time I have._

 _Be careful. I have a weird feeling it won't work on Foxy._

 _Hey, if it'll help us survive, I'll take any theory you have._

Yugi sighed, and thought of Chichi. If it weren't for her he would have run crying to Atem about how he couldn't take another second of that place. His thoughts wandered into thinking Atem could help better than he could, since he was once a spirit himself. He quickly brushed it off though. He couldn't bring himself to talk about the events of the night, or risk subjecting Atem to what Chichi had mentioned… Heck, Atem would kill him for subjecting _himself_ to the possibility.

The train finally reached his stop, and he tried to leave his thoughts on the train.

* * *

 _Uuuuugh I'll have to go to bed earlier tomorrow… I was only able to nap for an hour._ Yugi stared at the back door that lead directly into the office, his coffee the last trace of comfort he had. Walking through the door was now like walking into another world.

"Hey, great call with the mask!" James lifted it up and stood up from the office chair. "It's hard as fuck to move around in, but if it'll save our hides then who am I to complain?"

"Glad to hear it." Yugi replied flatly.

"Sorry… forgot you're probably not used to this yet… plus you're stuck in the thick of it… Why _did_ you come back, anyway?"

"I… felt awful leaving you here to deal with this alone." It was the only thing Yugi could think of that actually made a little sense.

"For real? We just met…"

"Yeah, I'm told I'm a very sympathetic person."

James raised an eyebrow. "Y'know, if there's more to it, you can tell me… I told you about all this crap even though it makes me sound absolutely insane. Granted, I didn't want you to die, but… believe it or not, whatever the reason can't be half as crazy as our situation."

Yugi stared at the floor. "'I see dead people.'" He quoted, immediately unsure as to why he thought that would lighten the mood at all.

"What?"

"Sorry, horrible joke. Half joke… I did see a spirit last night."

"Again, what?"

"If you'll just trust me… One of the animatronics appeared to me as a spirit. Toy Chika… she hangs out by the basement to talk to the Marionette through the door. He's another animatronic, one they decided was too creepy to repair. He told her to come and try talking to me… She's just a little girl. She said the animatronics are all haunted."

"That, actually explains, _so_ much."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. No programmer in their right mind would let that behavior slide. And it explains why they're so evil!"

"They're not evil, they're just… confused… and scared."

" _They're_ scared? We're standing behind a flimsy electric gate powered by a battery that can't possibly run continuously for more than three hours! That's not even half of how long we need it to hold out! We have a flashlight and a bear mask as alternatives!" James held the objects in question out to his sides and looked at Yugi like he was crazy.

"I know… but you don't haunt something because you died happy."

James lowered his arms, and his head.

"James!" Yugi suddenly shouted, pointing at the doorway. James turned and put on the mask, then flashed the flashlight at the doorway. Foxy kept running, a bit closer every time the light went on. Yugi dashed for the battery and flipped the switch. Foxy slammed into the gate and stumbled back, then ran off in the other direction.

"Thanks… I forgot we can't just hit pause or something…"

Yugi flipped the battery off and stood up.

"Right. Thanks for the quick reaction. Might have worked if it were anyone else," he forced a laugh.

"So… the ghosts told you about the mask?"

"Yeah…"

"And that Foxy ignores it?"

"He's the only one that somehow figures out it's a person."

"Sound logic." James shook his head, unimpressed with the explanation. But when Yugi didn't offer another, he had to assume Yugi didn't know the real answer. They just proved that Foxy didn't care about the mask, the reasoning behind it wasn't really important.

"Well, my shift is just about over. Why'd you come early today, anyway? I hate showing up even a second before I have to…"

"We just needed to talk, is all… By the way, I wanted to ask. Tomorrow's Saturday, I'm not scheduled to work weekends. But who is? I can't stand the idea of… trying to introduce anyone new to this already… I'm quite shocked you survived your first night all on your own..."

"Only Chika bothered me that night… I panicked when she ran at me and clicked the light at her, praying that there was a reason for the 'no flash photography' near the stage… I guess I was just lucky."

"Yeah you mentioned that before. I didn't even notice that sign…"

James shrugged, "I'm taking the 12-6 shift for the weekend. Cause I agree with you… training one newb for the hard part is bad enough," he smirked.

"But then, when are your nights off? Your weekend?"

"Can't afford one, and Cecil is willing to pay me for working all seven days. Says he likes my attitude."

"I'm sorry… I'd say I hope I get used to this soon, but…"

"Yeah, you don't want to. I think I'm immune to horror movies after this. Horror anything, believe it or not," James looked at the tablet and poked it a few times. Probably checking on things.

"I wonder if we could convince him to have us both on this shift. It's a lot easier to bear with someone here."

"I have to agree. Although that was pretty close with Foxy…"

"I wouldn't let it happen twice! I'll check more while we talk. You can watch the door." He handed the flashlight to Yugi.

"Gods, that alone would make it easier."

James responded with a chuckle. Instead if talking they each ended up wrapped in their own thoughts, until James's alarm started going off again. He shut it off and handed Yugi the tablet, then placed the Freddy head on Yugi. "Hah, I thought your hair might stop the mask from covering your head."

Yugi scoffed, "It's freaking hair, not metal!"

"Sure doesn't stand up like normal hair. Anyway, good luck. Text me if the ghosts give you any more tips!"

"I will… Oh, one more, uhm, 'tip' Chichi gave me."

"Chichi?"

"The spirit of Toy Chika. She said, uhm… if they happen to catch us… They'll definitely kill us. Gruesomely."

"Believe it or not, I'm not sure I want to know the details… Good to know all this stress hasn't been in vain though, I guess. That said, I don't care if I don't get paid for it. I'll do overtime with you tonight."

"You can't do overtime without approval!"

James laughed, "One, it was a figure of speech. I'll be off the clock-"

"That's illegal!"

"So is letting your employees get killed by animatronics! I had no idea you were such a stickler for rules. You just confirmed it- we could _die_ here! You really, truly care about rules right now?"

Yugi sighed, "You make a good point."

"Good. Now clock in so I can clock out."

Yugi handed him the tablet, which he checked the cameras with once more. After clocking in, Yugi took the tablet back and glanced out the doorway while James clocked out. "Actually… I think for tonight, I'd like to go it alone again."

"What? Are you insane? You can admit if you have a death wish, I'll just walk right out now."

"No, nothing like that. Chichi said I could help them. But, also that I'm the only one who's ever been able to see their spirits- or, y'know, hers. Hell maybe hers is the only one I _can_ see. But I don't think she'll show herself with you here. No offense…"

James thought for a moment. "Fine. It's only your second night. Maybe they'll cut you some slack…"

"Thanks James. I'll call you if I need back-up."

"I don't live far, so I'll be here. And you don't need keys from the inside, right? I forgot to give them to you," he winked, "Good luck again."

"Thanks again." Yugi smiled, shooting him a side glance from the tablet. He heard the door close. And with that, he was left alone again with the haunted animatronics.

* * *

Quickly he realized that Bonnie and Toy Bonnie were very interested in him that night. He wanted to just keep the mask on, unfortunately it was so large and bulky that it made it impossible to check the cameras. Even though he kept his ears sharp and his hair did help him prop the mask on top of his head when he wasn't using it, they still managed to sneak up to the sides of the door on three separate occasions. He barely got the mask on the third time.

Cove. Stage. Outside the office. Hall one. Bathrooms. He still wished he knew who hid in the girls' restroom. Hall two camera. Arcade camera. Basement door camera. Chichi still seemed to be talking to the Marionette. Yugi took a moment to wonder what it looked like. Chichi had said it was deemed to creepy to spend money on. He tried not to be too thankful that one of Chichi's friends was locked up, but the animatronics that were reconstructed were way more than enough to worry about.

Cove. Lady Foxy was gone. Actually, he'd never seen Lady Foxy anywhere besides the Cove… he sent James a text about it. It didn't take long for him to respond. It was actually really good to know he had support. He couldn't say he liked the answer though.

 _Sorry Yugi, that's the one animatronic I can't figure out where it goes if it leaves its area. I always assumed she'd sprint at the door like Foxy, but I haven't seen her. Which is kind of a good thing, maybe? She hasn't tried to attack._

Curious. Yugi checked the time while he had his phone out. 2AM again. He had a text from Atem, too. He replied to it, hoping not to worry him again, and checked on his cameras some more.

He heard that faint buzzing noise again, prompting him to lower the mask. He looked around the doorframe. Nothing. But the buzzing was still there. Finally, he looked at the top. Two pairs of eyes peered at him. He flashed the light at them, his own widening when he realized he just got the answer to his question. He quickly shot James a text after Yugi watched it crawl away.

 _It crawls on the ceiling, where the cameras can't see! Mask and flashlight are effective, but I almost had a heart attack…_

 _Holy shit dude! Don't be afraid to hit the office's panic button if you do have one!_ _Are you sure you don't want me to come over?_

 _Yeah I'm sure. No sign of any spirits yet._

Yugi took a deep breath to calm his nerves. _Stay calm, stay calm._ Cove. Stage. Outside the office. He caught sight of the Bonnies standing up from their crouched position, and he yanked his mask on and stared through the gate. They stared back. Yugi sat perfectly still. The animatronics seemed satisfied, and walked away once more.

Yugi pushed the mask back up onto his hair. Arcade. Bathrooms. Hall one. Main hall. Stage. Prize counter. The yellow one was still gone. Yugi wondered how James knew it hated to be stared at if Yugi could never even find it tostare _at._

Hall two. Stage. Cove. Bathrooms. Arcade. Basement door. Outside office. Flash light at Chika. Main hall. Cove. Hall one. He looked up from the tablet, and saw a shadow beyond the gate. Flashing his light at it revealed a lonely Toy Bonnie, who moved on soon after.

Again it seemed to go on for days. It was so repetitive, he didn't even have to think about which action to take anymore- it just happened when he realized who he was dealing with. He checked the time. 4:54AM.

Cove.

Without even taking a moment to curse Yugi jumped out of the office chair and slammed on the battery's switch. Not a moment too soon, because Foxy slammed into the gate just then. Startled by the shock, he backed away and ran off.

Yugi sighed and reached for the switch to turn it off, but not before checking outside the office again.

Foxy had turned around _again_ and tried ramming the door one more time!

This time, Yugi heard a child's scream. "Argh, I _hate_ this! Why are you even _here?_ "

Yugi looked through the doorway. There, in the same spot that he had spoken to Chichi the previous night, was a young boy. He wore a red t-shirt with a cartoon character that Yugi didn't recognize, blue jeans and white sneakers. He had short, messy brown hair, and a lot of freckles on his cheeks. Yugi couldn't help but notice his blue eyes.

"Are you the spirit that possesses Foxy?" He asked.

The kid seemed surprised, which quickly turned to anger, "What of it? Why can you see me?"

"Chichi- Toy Chika said I could see her when no one else could. Maybe I'm just spiritually gifted?"

The child scratched his nose. "Maybe… I'll admit… being near you, I can actually think. I almost miss being able to do that."

"Almost?"

"It's difficult to be conscious of your being when you're a freaking robot fox that sings to people all day. Did you _hear_ that garbage they make me sing these days? Something about veggies and homework?" He spat, as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth. He stared at Yugi a moment longer, "Wait a minute… you _did_ hear it! You were here a few days ago!"

"You remember me?"

"Yeah, very rarely do adults actually watch _me._ I have to perform ten times more often than those other jerks, so it's nothing special and everyone ignores me…"

"I rather enjoyed your performance. Even if the lyrics were very clearly written by an adult trying to cram stuff down children's throats."

The kid blushed, "Th-thank you. Nobody really seems to appreciate me… I'm _always_ the joke."

"I'm sure that's not true, my friend and I can't be the only people ever to enjoy the performance."

"I don't know, I have this feeling that it was always like that for me… my memory of anything before the incident is too fuzzy."

"I'm sorry. What incident? Is there anything I can do to help?"

The boy was silent for a moment. "So you're the guy who has Toy Chika asking us all to call her Chichi?"

"Uh, yeah. Is that bad?"

"No. I'm jealous. Why should she get to have an identity of her own? We've all been stuck like this for like a million years, what makes her suddenly so special?"

"You've all always been special. Did you want a name of your own, too?"

The boy was silent. He folded his arms, "If I like what you come up with."

Yugi thought for a moment, "Zephyr?"

"That… actually sounds really cool…"

"Okay, Zephyr. How's Chichi doing tonight? She seems to be staying by the basement again tonight."

He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned in, "I don't trust the Marionette. I don't like the way she talks to him all the time. Between him and Golden Freddy, something never sat right with me… Might be why I'm kind of the outcast. Even when they tried to remake Foxy, and made the character a girl, we _still_ got cast aside."

"You mean Lady Foxy? She was also tucked away to perform in between the band?"

"Perform? More like… fall, apart-form." The boy snorted at his own poor joke, "They let the babies play with him! And babies are dumb, and careless, and rude. They ripped him apart… and the adults didn't even care! They started calling him the Mangle! I couldn't stand to see him like that all the time… he was always in so much pain… Owner Cecil fixed him up very well, though. He actually seems happy." Zephyr smiled to himself.

"That's good. But if he's happy, then why does he still possess the animatronic?"

The boy looked to his left, then right, then behind him. "Poke around the cameras again, everybody's getting suspicious."

Yugi looked down at the tablet, and flipped through his cameras as the boy continued, "The Marionette controls Golden Freddy, who controls the rest of us. I used to hear them talking all the time. They're probably still talking, somehow. But every time any of us feel ready to forgive and forget… They remind us of the pain. If we cause you pain, it makes it harder to let go. Golden Freddy is weak now, though… maybe that's why we can actually talk to somebody? It's been… I don't know… over like ten years since we did anything. Some dumb collector bought all of us up after the restaurant closed, then he left us in that basement and forgot about us."  
"Okay, so… Why not forgive and forget right now?"

"…Can I?"

"You always could. Nobody can tell you what to do. You're the different one, right?" Yugi smiled, "Don't let anybody tell you that you have to do what everyone else is doing after not _allowing_ you to join in what everyone else is doing!"

"Hey… you're right… Okay. Starting today, I forgive my parents for leaving me here. I forgive whoever stuffed me into Foxy. I forgive Golden Freddy, and the Marionette. I don't want to be angry anymore. I want to be happy again!"

Yugi had to shield his eyes from the intense light that emanated from Zephyr. When the light faded, the child was inspecting his hands. Yugi noticed the Eye of Wdjat on his forehead. Perhaps the force that watched over Yugi and Atem was now also watching over Zephyr?

"I… I'm finally free. Gosh, if I knew it would be that easy…" He smiled at Yugi. "This might sound weird, but… I want to stay just a little longer. I want my friends to have this feeling too. Maybe we can all finally leave this place together!"

Yugi smiled, "That sounds like a good plan. But please be careful that they don't beat you up over it."

"Bah, like you said, I was always the different one. Treating me a different kind of different is still the same thing!" he giggled. Yugi only half understood what he was trying to say, but he let it slide. He did, after all, just gain an ally.

"Wait here! I'm going to see if I can talk Toy… Chichi into coming here!"

Yugi smiled, and nodded. When he couldn't see the child anymore, he checked his clock. There were only twenty minutes left before the animatronics would act normal again.

Soon enough, he saw Zephyr pulling Chichi by the wrist. For some reason, with their spirits showing themselves to him like this, he couldn't see the animatronics at all. At least, not until he checked the camera, which simply showed Foxy walking in front of Toy Chika.

"Foxy says his name is Zephyr, and you did something amazing?" She looked up at Yugi with questioning eyes.

Yugi knelt back down so he was at eye level with her, "You said you wanted to go home, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, turns out you can. You just have to let go of everything that keeps you here."

"There's stuff keeping me here?"

"Sure. Think about it. Why are you still here?"

"I'm… afraid of home, but I really wanna go there… I don't know if Mom and Dad still want me, or are there… and the Marionette needs me… Nobody else is listening to him-"

"But what does Chichi need?"

She looked surprised. "Chichi… needs to feel happy again. I need to see my Mom and Dad, even if they don't want me or are mad at me or forgot about me! I forgive them if they did! I want to find people who _love_ me again!"

Chichi shined just as brightly as Zephyr had, and when it died down enough for Yugi to look at her he noticed that she had the Eye on her forehead too. "Whoa, what _is_ that!?" Zephyr pointed at her forehead.

"That's the Eye of Wdjat. It's protected me and my friends for a very long time. I think it's now protecting you guys!" Yugi answered.

The children turned to look at each other, and smiled. Happiness must have just swept over them, because they suddenly did a really excited high-five. "Thank you so much Yugi!" They said to him, "It's almost 6, so we're going to go back to our places. It's hard to maintain this form at this hour. Try to fix your gate, I think Zephyr damaged it a bit with that last attack…"

"Yeah… sorry!"

"It's alright, my friend and I will get it taken care of. Have fun today, guys!"

"I think we will!" Chichi replied, and they ran off.

Yugi watched the clock on the computer, and as soon as it hit 6:05 he removed the gate and battery, and waited for the manager to dismiss him for the day.

* * *

When he got outside he saw Atem leaning on the wall of the building next door. "Oh, hey Atem." Yugi checked his phone, "I didn't worry you again, did I?"

"No, you replied when I asked… I tried to be more trusting tonight… How was it?"

"Oh, you know… uneventful." Yugi shrugged.

"You're stuck in the office all night, right? I thought I'd come pick you up again, and we could hang out in the area 'til they open again?"

Yugi was taken aback, "You wanna spend another day there?"

"Sure, if you don't mind. I really enjoyed myself, and there's still games in the arcade we didn't get to play."

Despite knowing that they wouldn't harm anyone in the day, Yugi still didn't want to go back there… especially not on his day off… but he couldn't think of a good reason to argue. He couldn't be sick of the place when he stayed in the office the whole time…

"S-sure. They gave me this card when I started, I can get discounts with it. And Cecil thinks _I'm_ the King of Games, so naturally he gave me unlimited tokens hoping I'd show off to all the kids again."

Atem laughed, "That sounds good to me!"

"We've got a few hours, let's grab breakfast."

"Mmm, I'm in the mood for pancakes."

"I think there's a place up the way here."

* * *

 **My notes are so short since I stopped doing the bit with me and another character... it's a little strange. Ah well, please leave a review if you're still here? Thanks again for reading!**


	5. The Weekend

**And with this chapter my fanfic is officially the longest YGOxFNAF fic! Still sad there aren't more... Anywho, this is the longest chapter because it's two days long, and once again splitting it up would have made one of the chapters way too short.  
**

* * *

While they waited for the food to arrive Yugi took a moment to text James about the gate and events of the night.

 _I'll pay you back for it tonight, I know money's pretty tight for you… Just let me know how much to pull out of the bank._

 _Also: we finally have some allies! Zephyr (Foxy) and Chichi should give you no trouble this weekend!_

 _No way, for real? Forgive me for saying so, but I'll believe it when I see it… if it's true though I'll be so grateful to not have to worry about Foxy anymore. Especially after finding out about the ceiling crawler… Chichi never really gave me any trouble, but I'm glad I don't have to worry about that changing!_

"Sorry Atem, coworker."

"I don't mind. Playing nice?"

"Yeah, I hope we become good friends!"

Atem chuckled, "You could be friends with anyone, Yugi."

"Heh, I guess so." Yugi replied, thinking back to the fact that he just made friends with spirits of killer animatronics a few hours ago. "So how was _your_ work last night?"

"You know, same as usual. Cocky rich people thinking they can pull the wool over my eyes. It's actually kind of fun playing with a handicap. And while it's not nearly as satisfying as punishing them with a mind crush, I get to call security and watch them get thrown out."

 _Oh Gods it would be so much better to be a security guard there._ "Haha, I'd hate to be a security guard _there._ I think watching cameras is good enough for me."

"They get so violent sometimes! One guy even had a hidden knife! That's why I was so worried about you being a security guard… But you're more like the night watch, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. I get my own panic button, I just hit it and the police show up to take care of whatever it is."

"Well, I hope you'll call me, too. I'll bring some of Kaiba's goons. We'd be there faster, too!"

Yugi laughed, "Thanks Atem. I love hearing that you'd be there for me."

"Always, Aibou."

Their food finally arrived, and they moved their conversation to another topic.

* * *

Yugi tried to steady his nerves as they approached the entrance to Freddy Fazbear's. It was so much different walking in from this end of the restaurant after the last two nights. His right hand flew up to his head and he held his left hand out in front of him (mimicking pulling the mask down over his face and holding the flashlight up) as soon as Toy Freddy walked up to them and did his greeting. Atem chuckled, "Forgot that happened?"

"Uh, yeah. It's still really surprising!" He smiled at Atem, then looked at Toy Freddy. He stared at Yugi uncomfortably.

"We're just here to have fun!" Atem responded when Yugi didn't answer the bear's question. Yugi hadn't actually even heard it. Toy Freddy instructed them about the pizza counter and show times again, then walked off.

"Since we ate not too long ago, wanna go straight to the arcade?" Atem asked.

"Yeah let's go." Yugi said quickly. The animatronics never actually entered the arcade the last time they were there together, so Yugi hoped that meant he simply wouldn't have to see them. He even hoped Atem would just forget about lunch altogether, then they'd just have to sneak past Toy Freddy to get out.

Almost as soon as they entered the arcade, one child pointed out who had just walked in and the arcade erupted in cheers. They rushed to Atem and Yugi, unable to tell which was _actually_ the King of Games. "I totally forgot about this…" Yugi heard Atem mutter to himself. "Hey kids, we came here to have fun, like you. We wouldn't ask you to stop playing your games for our sake, is it fair to do that to us?"

"But we wanna play with you!" "I wanna auto- autoga- sign my card!" "You get to play games all the time, and win!"

The noise attracted the daytime security, two guards showed up and tried to help disperse the children. "You can all watch him play games, but not if you stop him from playing!"

The children looked shocked that they hadn't thought of it, and backed off. "The racing one has the most potential for multiplayer… I'll play a few games with you guys, and then I want to spend time with my best friend." Atem half-smiled at the children, hoping it would appease them. "Okaaaay." The children chimed together. "Promise?" "Promiiiise!"

Atem gave Yugi an apologetic look, which he responded to with the best "don't worry about it" hand gesture he could come up with and handed the token card over. One of the security guards had already decided that she would need to mediate and stop the children from stealing turns or fighting over who was next.

The other security guard decided to talk to Yugi, "I wonder how this place is at night. If you guys keep showing up in the day, I might have to switch shifts with him!"

"Oh, I'm the one that works here at night. I'm just awful at publicity. He won't lose my title to the kids though!" Yugi laughed. He didn't want to try to clarify the King of Games situation, or Cecil might revoke the card… "And you don't wanna work here at night. It's way too creepy. I can hardly stand it so far!" He forced a laugh.

"Hah, you're probably right. Anyway, let me know if we can get you anything!"

"Will do!"

The guard walked off. Yugi went and got some tokens and decided to play on his own until Atem was done making the kids happy.

He picked out a Street Fighter rip off and popped the token in. He liked to think he wasn't half bad at fighting games.

Right off he threw out a combo. It was only round one, so it wasn't really a challenge. Plus he was still learning what his character did.

Round two wasn't too bad either. He thought he saw something in the corner of his eye, but when he glanced over it was just the crowd in the background standing up and cheering.

Round three gave him a little trouble. This computer opponent was trigger happy with a specific combo, Yugi had a bit of trouble breaking it. Felt good when he did though. Again, he saw a flash of yellow in the corner of his eye. But this time when he looked it was a leaf falling in the background.

He opened round four with a grab, and did a low kick to his opponent's head when they landed. That was when he noticed it, in the background. A yellow bear with a top hat sat, arms at its sides, head tilted to the side, slack-jawed. Black holes for eyes. Yugi tried not to look at it and kept fighting until he won the round.

Round five never started. The screen turned to black and red static, and large, white letters across the screen read: IT'S ME

Yugi furrowed his brow and stared curiously at the text. Suddenly a large yellow Freddy head with hollow eyes leapt out at him. He let out a scream and stumbled backwards, then fell over and continued to scramble away from the arcade machine until he ran into the pinball machine behind him, and he shielded his face with his arms. Not long later he heard Atem next to him, placing his hand on his shoulder, "Yugi! Yugi, what happened?"

Yugi looked at Atem before looking up at the arcade machine. The Continue? countdown had just run out on him, and it taunted him with a Game Over.

No static. No IT'S ME. No yellow bear.

"I- I don't know."

"You don't know what made you scream and fall over and cover your face?" Atem raised an eyebrow.

"I… Yeah. I think I was just seeing things. I'm still pretty tired."

"Should we go home? I'm sure a nap would do you some good."

"No, I'll be fine. Really. Let's grab a soda or something."

"Sure. The band is starting soon!"

"No! No, let's just, get some soda and hang out with Z- Foxy."

"Okay Yugi. You want to meet me over there? I can wait in line for us, you should have a seat. Not on the floor."

"Yeah… okay."

Atem helped Yugi up, and they walked to the food counter line together. Atem took his spot at the end, and Yugi continued on to Pirate's Cove.

* * *

Atem watched Yugi until he was no longer in sight. He had no idea what had happened, but he was suddenly very worried about his aibou. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Even if he's stuck in the office, he still has to stare at this place all night. Alone._

"Yugi! What the fu- uh- heeeeck are you doing here? I mean I know it's daytime and all but even I'm only here to pick up the project." A man with black hair walked up to Atem, but what he was saying caught him by surprise.

"Project?" Atem raised an eyebrow. Before he realized he should correct the man speaking to him about who he was the man continued, "Yeah dude. You know… the project." The man shrugged and raised his eyebrows, as if that told Atem what it was.

Atem was curious now.

"Oh, of course. Sorry. I'm pretty out of it today."

"It's alright. You could've picked a better place to relax though. Believe it or not I got sick of this place my first night."

 _Night? Is this Yugi's coworker?_ "Yeah, well, they have good arcade games here. Plus, I got a free pass for them." Atem flashed the pass with a smile, trying to mimic Yugi.

"Oh, that explains it." The man smiled widely, "Free games is totally worth being stared at by… the band all day." He said as he rolled his eyes, his gaze falling to the stage across the room and turning into a glare. His tone oozed sarcasm.

"You can't see the band from the arcade."

"I still couldn't be caught dead in here for more than what I'm already stuck here for. …Heh, sorry… poor choice of words…"

Atem's brow furrowed.

"Oh, that reminds me- here." He held out a key and winked, "I had copies made, just in case."

"What's this for?"

The man lowered his voice to a whisper, "The office, doofus. We can't just keep trading the original one, the MODs won't believe we forgot to hand it over forever,"

"Oh, of course…

"Anywho, I'm gonna go fix up the project. Wish me luck this weekend!"

"Uh, good luck!" He waived at the man, who walked away. He wished he could have thought of a way to find out what "the project" was, but he couldn't think of a way to ask without revealing that he wasn't Yugi.

But he could always ask Yugi himself.

* * *

Yugi sat down at the same seat he had the last time he was here with Atem. He looked up at Foxy, and smiled. He somehow seemed happier, although Yugi could have just been imagining it because he knew that Zephyr was happy. Just then the animatronic kicked up and started one of its cheesy, listen-to-your-parents songs. He looked at Yugi the whole time. Yugi giggled, having the feeling that Zephyr wanted to show off another one of the stupid songs they made him sing.

Another song started up, and when it ended Yugi clapped. It was then that he heard James's voice, "Yugi? You were just… Are you screwing with me?" Yugi turned around and looked at James, "What do you mean?"

"You were just in line getting food!"

Yugi's face lit up, "Oh! No, that was my boyfriend. I know, we look weirdly alike…"

"Oh… Shi- e- e- oot. I hope I didn't give anything away…"

"What did you tell him!?" Yugi stood, suddenly worried.

"That I came to pick up the project, you're insane for spending your day off here, I wouldn't be caught dead here and that that was a poor choice of words."

"You're damn right it was!" Yugi exclaimed angrily.

"Yugi, watch your language, this is a family restaurant… They'd fire you if they heard you."

"I don't- I-" Yugi sighed in frustration. "Help me think of what the project is without it being the actual project."

"Why can't it be the actual project? I take my job too seriously, and I want to invent a portable electric gate. You're helping. Tell him I just started working on it."

"I can't think of how I'd be helping…"

"You're helping me workout the bugs."

"What bugs are there in a gate hooked up to a battery?" Yugi tried not to yell.

"It's supposed to be a portable electric gate, but the portable part is hard to nail down. Stupid battery will only last a few hours."

"Stupid indeed…" Yugi sighed. "Tell me again why you go through this trouble?"

"I take my job too seriously."

"No, not what I should tell my boyfriend. Why do you do this job?"

James was silent. He took a seat next to Yugi and hung his head, "Believe it or not, my little brother thought he could make bank transporting drugs. And he probably did, for a little while anyway. But a few months back he lost the shipment. I don't know the details. Just that he got his stupid ass thrown in jail, and since it's difficult to make money in jail, they came to me to collect. I have to pay them every month, for both our sake's."

"I'm so sorry, James… If you want, I can-"

James held up his hand, "If I start accepting money from people, and the dealers find out where I got it, they'll only go after the people who were nice to me. I have to do this alone."

Yugi looked at the floor, then back up at James, "We just have to hold out this weekend. Come Tuesday morning, I'll have set all the animatronics straight. They can all go home, and you can continue your work here without fear."

James smiled, "Thanks, Yugi. It's nice to not be completely dreading the night. Although you don't have to come with me this weekend, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? You said they were getting more aggressive…"

"I'm sure. You need a break, as it is you're spending, ten hours? Plus? Here today. You've already got bags under your eyes, you need more sleep."

"I guess so… I pretty much gave up sleep so I could spend time with Atem, go to school _and_ work here… But you could _die,_ James. I'm here by myself at nights because they'll talk to me, but as far as we can tell they'll never show themselves to you."

"Don't worry about it. I promise to call you if anything funny starts to happen, believe it or not. I'm sorry again about almost spilling the beans to your boyfriend. With any luck he just thought I was crazy."

"Oh, speaking of crazy… I swear I saw yellow-"

"Is this your coworker, Yugi?"

James and Yugi both jumped. Atem placed Yugi's soda in front of him and sat down on the other side of him, across from James. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. He mistook me for you in line earlier."

"Hey man, you're the one who didn't correct me! You know how similar you look?" James defended himself.

"Atem, why would you pretend to be me?" Yugi looked at him sadly.

"He was trying to ask you about some project? I've not heard of this project. I thought you tell me everything." Atem gave him an equally sad look back.

"I'm just trying to make friends… he asked for help, I said yes… it's not even that interesting of a project, he's making a portable electric gate."

Atem paused, "You're right, that's not that interesting."

Yugi internally let out a sigh of relief.

"Welp, I'm done being insulted. Have fun on your date!" James smiled and stood up.

"Haha, sorry James. Thanks!" Yugi waved at him.

"The hell does he need a portable electric gate for?" Atem gave him a "that guy is crazy" look.

Yugi shrugged, "He's a professional security guard, and he thought he might be able to make some money on an invention."

Atem thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I guess I can see people paying for that. I just hope he doesn't kill anyone with it. …I hope that's not what he needs you for."

"No, no! We've been trying to figure out how to keep it portable, but have the battery last more than a few hours."

"What about a portable generator?"

"I'll run that by him." _I doubt they'd let us keep anything gas-powered in the office…_

"Also, he mentioned that he wouldn't be caught dead here… and then went on to say that that was a poor choice of words?"

"Really? That's weird, people say that all the time."

"You're sure there's nothing you're not telling me?"

"I've told you everything. Maybe there's something _James_ hasn't told _me._ "

Yugi had a sip of soda and looked back up at Foxy, who started up another song. Yugi and Atem both started laughing again, and Yugi made sure to clap in the hopes that Zephyr didn't think they were laughing _at_ him.

"Ahoy, maties! Hope you're enjoying your stay at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria!" Lady Foxy asked from behind them. Yugi jumped ten feet in the air again. "Pizzeria!" The parrot chimed on queue.

"Yes Lady Foxy, we're doing fine!" Atem responded with a smile. Yugi turned around and smiled at her too, "Yup, yup! And I hope _you're_ enjoying _your_ stay so far! It must be so fun to play with kids again!"

Lady Foxy's head tilted to the side the parrot wasn't on, and she stared at Yugi. Foxy started singing another song, "Yo ho, yo ho! Pirates are the smartest of the smart!" there was a pause, but the music continued. The children singing along didn't seem to notice that Foxy wasn't, they sang something about swordplay and art. Next thing Foxy said was "Don't talk to strangers," and the music played until the end without Foxy singing another word.

"That was strange," Atem said while looking back up at Foxy, "I wonder if the poor guy is breaking from singing so much."

Lady Foxy stared at Yugi the whole time, head still tilted. _I think Zephyr wants me to shut up…_ he thought.

"Yugi, I don't like the way she's looking at you… let's go before something goes wrong." Atem stood up and grabbed Yugi's arm slowly.

"Y-yeah." Yugi stood slowly. Just then Toy Chika came in and stood next to Lady Foxy, "Hello there! Any of you youngsters need to use the restroom?"

Lady Foxy's head went upright as she turned around and walked away.

"No thank you, Chika." Atem replied.

"Yeah, thanks Chichi." Yugi added as they walked away.

"Chichi?"

"Pet name for the animatronics. James likes her."

"Freak. Don't hang out with him so much anymore, he's scaring me."

"Not like that!"

"If you say so," Atem laughed, "Want to go back to the arcade?"

"The kids'll bother us again…"

"I got it covered."

They went up to the prize counter, and they waited patiently for any one of the ticket counters to give them their turn. While they waited, Golden Freddy continued to greet everyone in his glitchy manor. "Wel-Wel-c-c-come to the Prize C-c-c-corner! I hope you enjoyed-joyed the game-joyed the games! Wel-Wel-c-c-come to the _hell_ C-c-c-corner! I hope you enjoyed-joyed _your life!_ Wel _-We'll_ -c-c- _kill you_ to the Prize C-c-c-corner! I hope you _die_ enjoyed-joyed the game-joyed the games! _It's me!_ "

Yugi looked at the children crowding the counter, and at Atem. Was he hearing things? He had to be… nobody could have heard that and not be as confused as he was right now…

Atem pulled him out of the trance the golden bear had put him in by shoving something onto his head. He watched Atem put on something too. It was a yellow and brown hat that read "Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria" with the logo on it. "I think our hair is our biggest giveaway. Now we stand a chance!" Atem grabbed his hand and lead him back to the arcade.

The hat trick seemed to work, as they entered the arcade and nobody took any notice. Yugi made sure to only suggest non-video games: more skee ball, whack-a-mole, reflex games, and shooting a coin into a hole.

When they had their fill, Yugi used the excuse that he had to go to the bathroom to avoid going back to the prize counter. He sent Atem up alone, saying he already knew what they were going to get anyway.

Yugi took the most indirect route to the bathroom he could, avoiding Pirate's Cove. He was back in the labyrinthine hallway. His cameras still hadn't shown him the full picture, or how they connected. Why was it so confusing to find the bathroom, anyway?

That was when he passed a familiar door.

"EMPLOYEES ONLY"

Yugi stared at it. The Marionette had to be behind here. He wondered if the Marionette was strong enough to show it's spirit. Yugi reached for the doorknob…

" _Not yet!"_ Yugi turned around and found Chichi. _"He's angry!"_

"What? Why? I thought he _wants_ to be saved?"

" _Difficult to talk."_

"I'm sorry. Guess it's still hard to show your true self in the day. Okay, I'll wait until you say so. By the way, in case you didn't know, I won't be back the next two nights. I'm not on the schedule. But James will be here, be nice to him, please. Now, that said… can you remind me where the bathroom is?" he blushed.

He could swear he heard her giggle, and followed her down the hall.

* * *

"You were pretty jumpy today, are you sure you're alright?" Atem asked on the train ride home. "I'm fine," Yugi yawned, "I just really need some sleep…" He lay down, his head resting in Atem's lap. "You and me both," Atem yawned, "Let's spend tomorrow in bed."

"That sounds perfect," Yugi whispered, nodding off before he realized it.

* * *

Atem woke Yugi up when the train reached their stop. They walked sleepily to their house, where Grandpa had already cooked dinner for them. "Cecil called me earlier! Said you both have really helped his business! Thank you so much for helping my friend!"

"Yeah, no problem Grandpa. Thanks for dinner!" Yugi said, salivating at the sight of mashed potatoes. He and Atem quickly grabbed plates and began serving themselves, "Oh it's no problem! I thought you two might get home late, so I wanted to make sure you had something to eat."

"Thank you very much, Grandpa." Atem replied.

They told Grandpa about their day at Freddy's, omitting the bits where the animatronics were a little off. They didn't want to worry him. Yugi promised to ask Cecil or his manager to have them maintenanced soon.

That night he sent James a text about Golden Freddy, since he didn't get to tell him earlier.

 _James… I don't know what the hell it was, but when I was in the restaurant today I saw Golden Freddy in places I shouldn't have. And I seemed to be the only one who could hear him, too. He said… well… Don't let him get to you. If you see it, it's probably not real. Don't look at it._

 _Thanks dude! I'll keep that in mind! Chichi's saved my butt once already. Is there something I can do for her in return? You should ask her if you haven't already. I hope she understood me trying to thank her._

 _I'm sure she did :) Good luck!_

Yugi put his phone on the nightstand and curled up with Atem. They were looking forward to a whole day of sleeping and alone time.

* * *

Yugi awoke to soft kisses all over his neck and face. He slowly opened his eyes and saw shirtless Atem kneeling over him, "Good morning, Sleepyhead. Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Yugi smiled. Atem pressed his lips to Yugi's, and Yugi couldn't help but wrap his arms around Atem, running his hands along his back and neck. After a bit of this Yugi reached for Atem's pajama pants and tried his best to take them off. Atem took the hint and obliged.

* * *

Right around five Yugi got a text. Luckily the couple had been eating dinner, so it wasn't interrupting anything.

 _Hey, just wanted to give you an update. Still alive! Lots of shit went down last night though… I'm not going to worry you with it tonight, but try to come in early tomorrow so we can talk and you can go over my notes. I put everything we've learned together in there, too._

 _Thanks so much! Good luck, I hope things are better tonight!_

"Was that James?" Atem asked. "Yeah, just letting me know that he'll try out the generator idea- as soon as he can afford it." Yugi laughed.

"Yeah I guess that'd get expensive fast… he'd have to get a contract with someone if he plans on mass-producing anything."

"True. That's something to work out later though."

"Oh by the way," Atem picked up his pants from the previous day, "He gave me this key yesterday. Said it was a copy of the office key? Why do you guys need to hide this from your managers?"

"Ah, well, he forgets his project in the office sometimes. He just wants us both to have access to it is all."

"Have you asked him if he's hiding something he's hiding from you? Or, are you hiding anything from me? This 'invention' of his sounds way too important…"

"What? Of course not! I told you, he just takes it way too seriously."

Atem eyed him suspiciously, then placed the key on the nightstand near Yugi's phone. "If you say so."

Atem took their plates downstairs, the last time he planned on being out of bed today.

* * *

Yugi's ring tone shocked him awake. He sat up and answered it, walking out of the room hoping he didn't wake Atem up. "Hello?"

" _Yugi I'm trapped!_ " Immediately Yugi went back into his bedroom, picked up the key Atem gave him and started putting on clothes as fast as he could, _"Freddy's blocking the door, the Balloon Boy somehow disabled the battery, and the rest are breaking down the gate! I don't know- NO! Stop!"_ Yugi heard screaming that quickly got farther from the phone, until it was silent. By this point Yugi was just out the door to his house.

He hated to do it, but he hung up so he could call the police.

"Hello? I just received a call from my friend, he's working the nightshift at Freddy Fazbear's. I have no idea what's going on, but he sounded terrified. I heard screams. Please help him! I'm on my way there now but I don't know if I can make it in time!"

The guy on the emergency line asked Yugi to remain calm and got the address as Yugi boarded the train. He ignored the man's advice to stay where he was and let the police take care of it.

* * *

Yugi fumbled with the key to the office. He slammed it open and looked around. The gate was busted off the bolts James used to keep it in place, lying lifeless on the ground. Yugi flipped the switch on the battery off so he could walk on the gate without getting shocked. "James?" He shouted. "Yugi…" he heard a pained voice respond. After another look he saw Chichi laying on the ground, "We tried to stop them… but just the two of us wasn't enough… Zephyr, he followed them, but I don't know what happened to him… My suit is too busted up. Wait for dawn, I don't want you to risk it." "I _can't_ wait for dawn, it could be too late by then!"

"But what will you do? You'll get both of you killed… Zephyr will be fine, the worst that can happen to us is Owner Cecil has us repaired again."

"You're too late anyway." Yugi looked up, at the ceiling. Four white dots peered at him in the darkness. They moved to the wall before the Lady Foxy animatronic landed on the ground. The image of the bot slowly faded into the face of a small boy with red hair. It was spiked, and he stared at Yugi with glowing brown eyes, arms folded. His entire visible body was covered in scars.

"H-hello. You must be Zephyr's friend."

"Tch, he's not my friend. None of these guys are."

"Then why do you help them?"

"I don't. I only look out for me."

"That's important, but so is having friends…"

"You try having friends when you look like this!" Suddenly as if the scars were stitching his skin fell apart at the seams, revealing ribs, tissue, muscles, organs, and half his skull. Yugi cringed, "What happened to you?"

"He told you, didn't he? I was the joke they gave to the toddlers. Poor ol' Mangle. Let's just let the kids put her back together, after all, they took her apart! All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Mangle back together again!"

Yugi suddenly recalled Zephyr's story. "I'm so sorry." Tears uncontrollably began to run down Yugi's face.

"Hey! I don't need you feeling sorry for me!"

"No.. you don't… But I can't help it… Can I do anything to help you?"

"Of course not! I don't need anybody's help!"

"You don't have to be the Mangle anymore… You could let Yugi give you a new name." Chichi chimed in, trying to be helpful.

"Oh what, so I can end up like you and Zephyr? Tch, no thanks!"

"I won't ask you to do anything for me." Yugi replied.

"We did this because we wanted to… We want to save you and the others, like Yugi saved us! We can actually go home any time we want!" Chichi spoke up again. Yugi glanced at her, and sure enough the Eye of Wdjat was still visible on her forehead.

"Well aren't you just so special! Go home then!"

"Not without you!"

"What if I don't want to go home? What if I like it here?"

Yugi pulled the attention back to him, "Do you really like it here, forcing yourself to remember when you looked like _that,_ Takeshi? Wouldn't you prefer to be whole again, and feel that way?"

"Well duh, but it's way too late for that… And I told you you couldn't give me a name!"

"It's never too late to forgive…"

"Why? Who's gonna hear it? Who's gonna know?"

"You will. You're the only one who matters at this point. Forgive everybody you're angry at. It's your anger that stops you from being whole again. Look at Chichi and Zephyr if you need proof."

The boy eyed Chichi. "Do you really feel better?"

"So much better. I just hope that you and the others can feel the same relief…"

The boy pondered it. "Fine. I'll accept the name Takeshi. And…. I forgive the kids for being dumb. And rude. And I forgive the staff for giving up on me. And… I forgive…" the kid took a deep breath, and Yugi watched his hanging lung expand. He fought the urge to cringe.

"I forgive the puppet for putting me here."

Before the question could leave his lips light enveloped Takeshi. When it dimmed, the boy was indeed whole again, even his scars were gone.

"Hooray, Takeshi!" Chichi cheered as best as she could. Takeshi walked over to Chichi, "I'm sorry that I didn't help you, Chichi… will you really be alright?"

"Yeah! You were alright after being mangled, right? I'll be fine!"

"Thank you." He smiled. He turned to Yugi, "It's actually time to go back now. …I'm sorry about your friend… He should be in the basement… but you won't like what you see. I don't recommend looking. And I want you to know that even without stopping to talk to me, you were too late."

"I… I have to at least go. If his spirit is still there… I want to say goodbye."

Takeshi nodded. "Do you need help getting there? I know you get lost there easily."

"I would actually appreciate that. Thank you."

He followed Takeshi to the basement door, hoping not to see any of the other animatronics on their way there. Yugi wouldn't know how to handle them. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

They reached the door, which had been busted down very forcefully. Yugi found the flashlight lying near the door frame, and picked it up. He shined it down in the basement. The smell was indescribably awful. He tried not to vomit, or even breathe. He took a few steps down, when the light finally shone on another Freddy suit. He stopped short. "The real Freddy is already back on stage. Are you sure you can't talk to your friend without looking?" He heard Takashi question him from the doorway. He continued walking, his eyes focused on the Freddy suit. He could only see the back of it, and it appeared to be sitting on some sort of table. Probably what they used to make it easier to work on the animatronics.

When he reached the bottom, and turned to the front of the suit, he was horrified by the sight. All that he could see of James was his emerald green eyeballs sticking out of the Freddy head's empty eye sockets, and his teeth, some clearly missing, through the mouth. The bile forced its way up through his throat and out his mouth, Yugi leaned over and let it make its way to the floor. He then steadied himself, "James? Are you here?" he asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

" _Yugi? Yugi, you came!"_

"Yeah, I did… I'm so sorry I was late…"

James's spirit appeared in front of the Fazbear suit, "Naw dude, it's fine. I knew you wouldn't make it. I just… you're the only one who would know the truth. I want someone to know. Golden Freddy sat in front of the exit, I was too afraid to get close and find out if he was an illusion… Don't let him get you with that trick! The gate wasn't busted yet, unless he uses magic there's no way he was actually there! And that stupid Balloon Boy… Your friends tried to help. Zephyr's actually in here with us… he kept me company until you got here. I can't see him anymore though…"

"It's close to six A.M. It's harder for their spirits to appear to us after that."

"Oh… then I might be going soon too, huh…"

"James, please don't haunt me." Yugi forced a laugh.

James laughed in response, "I don't plan on it, believe it or not. Just do me one favor."

"Name it."

"In my desk at home is a letter I wrote to my brother. Just send it for me. I live at 1987 Domino Boulevard. There's a spare key in the potted plant on the right."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, absolutely do not give him money! I don't want him or his drug lords to even know I knew you!"

"But then what'll happen-"

"Not your problem! Please, after everything you've done for me, I don't want you to survive this crap only to be roped in with that lot. If it weren't for you, this would have happened on night four."

"…If you say so. Thank you for everything, James."

"Thank you too, Yugi. Believe it or not, it was great working with you!"James smiled at Yugi one last time, before his spirit faded away.

Yugi slowly made his way back upstairs. Takeshi was gone. He had probably gone back to Pirate's Cove.

That was when the police finally entered the building.

"The _fuck_ took you so long!?" Yugi shouted at them.

"Calm down, sir. We're just investigating a reported disturbance-"

"Yeah, _I_ reported it! So I'll say it again: what, the, _fuck,_ took you so long?"

"We had to alert the owner-"

"I report screaming and you go to Cecil for _keys?_ My friend is _dead_ thanks to you!" As the words left his mouth, the sadness of the situation finally hit Yugi like a sack of bricks. He dropped to his knees and started to sob into the flashlight. Any attempts to calm him down to question this failed, and the police had to discover the body on their own.

* * *

 **Yugi dropped the F bomb! :O That's how you know he's livid. I'm honestly quite sad for James. But by my own count it was night 7, and very few people survive that all-20 custom night, right? I got his background story from whatever movie my dad was watching at the time... it made me feel bad for the character, so I hoped it would work for James. Even though I clearly have no knowledge of drugs, let alone dealers. Anyway, I really liked writing this chapter so I hope everyone had as much fun reading it as I did writing it!**


	6. HELPTHEM

"Yugi! Why didn't you wake me up!" Atem rushed over to Yugi when he was finally released from questioning. Yugi stared blankly at the ground, a slow but steady stream of tears still escaping his eyes, "I honestly didn't think about it… I just had to get to him as fast as I could…"

Atem wrapped his arms around him, "I'm so sorry, Aibou. I thought I heard you get up, but I thought it was just for the bathroom. I… I'm sorry."

Yugi returned the hug, "I have to go back there tonight."

"What? Why? What if the killer comes back? I can't let you do that!" He pulled back from Yugi and held him by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes as best as he could. Yugi still refused to look up from the ground.

"The killer has been there the whole time. James stuck it out there for a week, for his brother. I'm going to his house to carry out his final wish, and then I'm going back there."

"The whole ti-" He paused and sighed, "Yugi, you're both insane. Don't tell me _that's_ what you little project was all about!?"

Yugi shrugged, "Then I won't tell you."

Atem let out a growl of aggravation and took a few steps away from Yugi. After a moment, he turned around and looked at him again, "Why would you even go back if you know the killer is there?"

"To save him."

"What? Yugi, you can't reason with crazy people."

"They're not crazy. They're just confused. And scared." Yugi choked back a sob as he told Atem exactly what he had told James. This time, he added, "And angry."

"They? Now there's more than one?"

Yugi looked Atem straight in the eyes, finally ready to fully explain, "The animatronics are haunted by children who don't know how to forgive anymore. I've convinced three of them to forgive and move on, but they don't want to go without their friends. There's still seven left. I can't abandon them!"

Atem stared into Yugi's tearful, determined eyes. Yugi stared back at Atem's calm, intimidating eyes. But Yugi wasn't going to back down based on Atem's glare alone. Not when friends were involved. Atem finally gave up.

"Fine. But you can't do it alone. It's thanks to James they didn't get you on your first night, isn't it?"

Yugi nodded.

"You go do your errand. You still have that key to the office?"

"Why?"

"I'm going to go repair your stupid project. And maybe buy some tasers or something… but you're not doing this alone tonight. _You're_ crazy if you think I'd do that."

"Bu-"

"And no 'buts!' Key, now."

Yugi stared at him for a moment before finally handing over the object in question. He had lied and told the police that it was his house key. They took James's flashlight as evidence.

"Now how do I get it out of there without dying? Should I get the tasers first?"

"Just walk- er… I guess the place is closed today… James and I never figured out why they stop at 6AM…"

"I'll buy the tasers first. If the electric fence worked then I can't see why a taser won't."

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Atem…"

Before he knew what was happening, he felt Atem's embrace and his lips on his own.

"You have such a good heart, Yugi. I can't fault you for that. Now go take care of James's wish. We still need a plan."

Yugi nodded, "If you see Foxy, Lady Foxy or Toy Chika then you're safe. And you can call them Zephyr, Takeshi and Chichi. Although… Chichi was hurt pretty badly… Zephyr might have been too… so you may not see them after all."

"Got it. See you soon!"

He set off at a light jog. Yugi quickly cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Text me when you're out safely! Let's meet at the coffee shop in an hour!"

Atem turned and waved for a second before continuing his jog.

* * *

Yugi easily located the key James had told him about, and pushed the door open. The house was small, but definitely plenty for a single guy living alone. Yugi entered and felt another wave of sadness overcome him. It was a shame the first, and probably only, time he would be in James's house wouldn't be to hang out with James.

He located the only desk in the house, feeling really weird about going into the bedroom even though he had permission. After some digging around, he found the letter. It was stamped and ready to go, so Yugi had to wonder why James hadn't mailed it. It had been buried under a thin layer of other papers and stuff, so it couldn't have been written too long ago.

 _It's not my business, so I shouldn't worry about it._

He left the house and placed the key back where James had left it, and walked to the post office.

Atem stood in front of the back door to the office of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. After finding out that the animatronics inside were killers, he was having a very difficult time bringing himself to enter. His stomach churned at realizing he'd forced Yugi to come back here with this knowledge. It would explain his behavior that day, too.

Ignoring the police tape, he placed one taser in his pocket and kept the other one ready as he unlocked and opened the door. He saw nobody in the office, but the gate and battery were pretty close by. He stuffed the second taser into his other pocket and snatched up the pair of items before quickly scrambling out of the office and shutting the door behind him. He let out a sigh, locked the door again and set the police tape back in place. They didn't seem too concerned with the back entrance at the moment. He checked his pockets for the tasers before pulling out his phone and letting Yugi know that he was okay.

* * *

They met at the coffee shop after buying a new mechanical gate. Yugi tried to remember how it hooked up to the battery while explaining to Atem how each spirit showed itself to him when it was ready. How he gave them a new name and found out why they still felt tied to this world, and reasoned with them to forgive who or whatever it was. It had worked so far, with any luck the formula for the other seven wouldn't change.

"Oh no, I forgot about the notebook… James said he wrote some new notes in it."

"Then I'll go get it. While I'm at it I'll buy that generator I told you about. Why didn't James use one?"

"I doubt they would have let him take anything gas-powered into the office…"

"Yeah, well the place is shut down. Who's gonna say no now?"

"You have a point…"

"You go get the generator, I'll get your notebook."

"No, I can get the notebook."

"Yugi, please don't fight with me on this. Just tell me what it looks like and where it should be. If it's not there, I promise I'll leave."

"Atem, I'm the one who's insisting on saving them. I can get it."

"Fine. We'll both go. Then we'll do our shopping. Then we'll go back."

"But that'll waste time!"

"Then I'll get the notebook, and you do the shopping."

Yugi sighed, "Fine…We'll go together."

"Thank you."

* * *

This time when the door creaked open and they peered inside they found Chichi staring at the computer chair that had been tossed aside in the office when James was grabbed.

"Hey, Chichi! You're looking much better!" Yugi whispered, hoping she could hear him. The animatronic turned and walked up to him as he entered the office fully. He could sense the mix of happiness and sadness from her, but she was unable to manifest her spirit at the moment. Yugi knew she'd have difficulty explaining her emotions, so he got to the point, "I'm here for a notebook James and I kept in here, any chance you've seen it?"

The bot jerked her head left and right, doing her best to shake her head.

"That's okay, it might still be under the desk." Yugi walked over and felt around while Atem stayed in the doorway. Chichi looked at him at stared. "H-hello, Chichi. My name is Atem. I'm Yugi's, uhm, partner."

Chichi looked back over at Yugi, who had found the notebook. After confirming its contents, and snagging the forgotten Fazbear mask off the floor, he walked back to the door and patted Chichi on the head (the part he could reach, anyway), "We'll be back tonight. Stay safe until then!"

" _Yugi, no!"_

"I know it's difficult for you to speak, Chichi. We'll talk tonight. And if Atem couldn't talk me out of it, then nobody can, so don't even try!" He winked at her, "I won't give up on you guys."

And with that, he and Atem left and locked the door behind them.

"Alright, we're gonna need flashlights, an extra Freddy mask, and that generator." Yugi flipped to the last few pages of the notebook that had writing and began reading the last of James's notes. "Where did he get the first one? It's not like they sell these anywhere." Atem questioned.

"I never asked, we didn't really need more than one… And it's probably not a good time to ask Cecil…"

Yugi handed Atem the book and quickly unlocked the office door again, "Chichi, still there?" When the door was open wide enough for him to see inside, he realized she had been on her way out. "Chichi, do you think you could find another mask for us?" The animatronic did its best to nod, by moving its whole upper body in a half-bow a few times. "Thank you! We'll meet you here tonight at ten!"

She did her awkward nod again, and Yugi closed the door again.

"Chichi's working on it. Let's get to the hardware store for the other things."

They started off in silence, an awkwardness slowly growing between them. Yugi sensed that Atem was trying to figure out how to bring something up, and he could see it in his face when he glanced over. "What is it?" Yugi ventured, hoping Atem might just talk about it rather than try to be tactful. "The police didn't tell me any details when they called. Just that your coworker was found dead, and you had been taken in for questioning, and that nothing in their evidence pointed to you as the killer and so they wanted me to come pick you up. I guess what I'm trying to ask is… What exactly did they do to James?"

Yugi stopped short and looked away from Atem, the image of James's eyes and teeth sticking out of Freddy's head still burned vividly into his mind. With it came the memory of the rancid smell, of raw meat and iron and feces. He lurched forward and watched the bile once again spill from his mouth and onto the ground, the remnants of his breakfast still discernible. He felt a hand on his shoulder that pulled him closer into a chest, then felt a paper napkin wipe across is mouth. After he was cleaned up, Atem pulled Yugi into a full frontal hug, and Yugi forced himself to just take in the scent of him and his cologne, on the feeling of being in his arms and his face on his chest. He felt Atem stroke his hair and give him a kiss on the head occasionally.

 _I'm so sorry, Yugi. I won't ask you to think about it again._ Atem thought to himself. Even the apology would make Yugi think about it, so he didn't dare utter it aloud. All he could offer was comfort until the young man felt calm enough to continue their walk.

After about five minutes Atem heard Yugi mumble something about a suit into his chest.

"I'm sorry Yugi, I couldn't hear you. But please don't force-" Just then he felt Yugi pull back from the embrace, "They stuffed him into a suit. That's their MO. There were people before James, and I have no idea how Cecil never found any articles about it before building the literally damned pizzeria, but-" Yugi covered his mouth in an obvious effort to not vomit again. Atem pulled him back into the hug, "Shhh, it's okay. We'll help them all tonight, and it will never happen again." Atem heard Yugi begin to sob, and lead him to a nearby bench to collect himself once more.

* * *

After the trip to the hardware store they got some sandwiches and had a seat at a table set up outside the restaurant. Yugi began hooking their new generator up to the gate while Atem read through the notebook. Every once in a while Yugi stole a glance at Atem's face. His brow was always furrowed, and he could see the combination of rage and, rare yet unmistakable, fear building within him.

Atem tried to keep all of his thoughts to himself. He wanted to scream at Yugi for subjecting himself to this after knowing what went on there. He granted him that he couldn't have known his first night, but after that there was no excuse. Even his desire to help wasn't an excuse. Yugi could have been killed by any one of these ten monstrosities. _Ten._ By being stuffed into a suit. He had to assume that it was the 80s equivalent to the iron maiden for it to actually kill anyone. He couldn't stand the thought of asking Yugi for details, and he wasn't sure he really wanted them anyway.

He was also terrified at the thought of going in there himself. He didn't want to die, but more importantly he didn't want to screw up and watch Yugi die. He wasn't sure if the tasers would work. He couldn't imagine why they wouldn't if the gate worked fine, but the possibility still scared him.

And Yugi's method of cleansing the spirits was far from science. It wasn't even guaranteed to work. Atem wasn't sure if he could pull it off. He had learned to be more empathetic from Yugi, sure, but he was still himself. He hadn't achieved Yugi's level of optimistic naivety, not that he was aiming to. He had no way of knowing how the spirits would react to him.

And how did James survive on his own for so long? Why did he keep going back? Atem glanced over at Yugi, who looked close to being done with the generator. He couldn't bring himself to ask, assuming he even knew the answer. Maybe he was a paranormal investigator or something. Or just needed the money and was terrible at getting and holding a job. Yugi always made Cecil out to be a cheerful, generous man. He might have been trying to give the young man a second chance.

Too bad it ended up being his last.

With a final click he looked up from the notebook as Yugi exclaimed, "There! Now we just have to load up the gas and we'll be good to go. How's the reading going?"

Atem shook his head, unsure of how to answer. He wasn't quite done reading, but his own thoughts had stopped him frequently. Finally he settled on, "I really wish you would have walked out of there upon reading this. Or at least upon realizing it wasn't a joke."

Yugi's face fell, "I know… I almost wish I had too… but then I think of Chichi, Zephyr and Takeshi. And the others that are suffering as they had. If I had left, all of them would still be suffering. James would have died regardless. The animatronics wouldn't have been blamed, of course. Who would even think to do that? Which would leave them to hire another night watch when the place reopened. Which means they would have killed more. The killing makes them… makes it harder for them to pass on. The sooner we do this, while their connection to this world is still pretty weak, the better for everybody."

"Yugi?"

"Yes, Atem?"

"You're too perfect, you know that?" Atem smiled sweetly at him.

Yugi tried to hide his blush, "I- I am not. I just want to help."

"Only you would help killer robots."

"I- well, uhm… I can't see them as such now that I know the truth…"

Atem chuckled, "I didn't say you needed to justify it. Just know that I love you. Whatever happens tonight… I love you."

"I love you too, Atem. But don't talk like that! We'll be fine! We'll have Chichi and Takeshi to help us! Although I've been trying to figure out how Chichi got repaired so quickly… the place is on lockdown, and I doubt Cecil is in a huge hurry to get them fixed since he can't open during the investigation anyway. It's driving me crazy."

"We'll just have to ask Chichi tonight. You mentioned that she can talk to you, but was having a hard time doing so earlier?"

"Yeah, as I said they appear to me as spirits. But it's difficult to do so during the day. And they're just children."

Atem nodded, "Okay Yugi, you're right. We'll save them, and we'll get out alive. Everything will be alright."

"Thank you, Atem!" Yugi leaned over the table for a kiss, and Atem quickly obliged.

They got out a pen and started to put the finishing touches on tonight's plan.

* * *

 **Thanks again for all of the views and support! I guess it's harder for crossover stories to get noticed than standard fanfics, so I appreciate you guys all the more!  
**


	7. Night 3

"So now we just… wait?" Atem asked, staring at the gate set up. They had reinforced it with other supplies from the hardware store, now that they didn't care about getting yelled at by management. Worst case scenario Yugi got fired and Atem paid for the damages.

Yugi checked his phone for the time as he picked up the tablet, "Yup. It's only 10:30."

"Yugi now is not the time for Angry Birds."

"It's the camera monitor! Gosh if I wanted to play stupid app games I'd use my phone." Yugi glared at him, knowing Atem only made the joke because he knew how much Yugi hated mobile games. They hinged on getting you addicted enough to come back to play for five minutes every six hours or pay a ridiculous fee just to play for another five minutes. That's not how he liked to play games.

He flipped through a few rooms, unable to find his friends.

"Yugi," Atem's voice drew his attention, and his hand drew his attention to the doorway. There stood Toy Chika, Foxy and Lady Foxy, and Yugi watched as they struggled to have their spirits appear sooner than 11PM, "Yugi! We got the mask you wanted!" Chichi's animatronic held out its arm, where a hallowed out Fazbear mask hung. Yugi flipped off the generator and pushed the gate up and graciously accepted the mask, "Thank you guys so much!"

"You're welcome! Now get back behind the gate, everyone will be awake soon."

Yugi scurried back and re-secured the gate, "By the way, Chichi, I'm really curious- you and, maybe Zephyr got damaged last night, didn't you? How are you better already?"

"I've been taken apart and put back together enough times, I know how our bodies work," Takeshi replied. "Now that I can think straight, I can actually use that knowledge. I can't ever stay Mangled again!" He laughed proudly.

"Wow that's amazing, Takeshi!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know!" Takeshi puffed out his chest, but it was then that Chichi took the conversation back, "So what's the plan?"

"There's still seven left, so-"

"Eight."

"What?"

"There are eight animatronics left."

"Really? Two Bonnies, Three Freddys, Chika, and the Marionette…"

"And Balloon Boy."

"Balloon Boy? I've never seen-" _"The Balloon Boy some how disabled the battery!"_ James's voice rang out in his memory.

"He disabled your electric fence…" Chichi hung her head in shame. "The Marionette was very angry with you after you saved Zephyr and me, so he sent Balloon Boy in. He can't physically do much, but he's good at messing with electronics."

"You mentioned that the Marionette was angry before, why would he be angry? Is this not what he wanted of me?"

Chichi was silent as a few tears began to pour down her cheeks, "I thought he was my friend… He said this isn't the salvation he wanted for us. He was worried we'd lose our connection to this world- he was worried we'd forget why we're here and leave. He wants us to all just stay here and keep killing, even though it's never going to give him his life or his mother back! It won't give any of us anything back!" She was sobbing now. Zephyr placed his hand on her shoulder and continued for her, "He's angry that we're ready to move on. He wants revenge on the guy who killed us and got away with it thirty-some-odd years ago. It never occurred to anyone that the guy would be so much older than anybody hired for the night watch, if he's even still alive. We know he was arrested, but we don't know what happened after that. That's not exactly something you talk about at a birthday party."

"We may have to save him for last, then. He is locked in the basement, correct?" Atem chimed in.

"No, the door was busted off its hinges last night." Zephyr replied. Yugi pushed back the image of it, and of that horrific smell hitting him for the first time.

"Can he move at all?" Atem's voice broke through the memory.

"Not a circuit. He kept yelling at me to fix him, but I'm not going to help someone who's yelling at me!" Takeshi folded his arms and looked angry.

"Oh but, we might be able to calm him down?" Chichi offered, wiping the tears off her face.

"How?" Yugi asked.

"There used to be a music box the night watch would play for him. It played a lullaby, he loved it so much that he'd stay in his box so long as he could hear it."

"A lullaby? Any particular one?" Yugi questioned as Atem pulled out his phone. Chichi began to hum what she could remember of the melody. A few moments later, it began to play a music box version of My Grandfather's Clock.

"That's it!" Chichi exclaimed, amazed. Atem made sure the electrical current wasn't running through the gate and handed them the phone through the space in the metal, "Take this to the Marionette. I doubt he will want to talk, and it will be very difficult to get through to him with seven others chasing us. But if this will give him some comfort, I want him to have it."

Takeshi stepped forward and took it with Lady Foxy's hand. He must have learned to use them extremely well while repairing his friends.

"What if the song ends?" Yugi asked as Takeshi walked away.

"It's on repeat. The battery should hold out until the end of the night."

"Okay… So-"

Yugi was interrupted by another voice, "Chika what's going on here?"

Chichi and Zephyr turned, and past them Yugi and Atem could see the remnants of Toy Freddy fade into a young girl with light brown short, almost boyish hair wearing a gray hoodie and baggy blue jeans with white untied sneakers. She was older than the other children, and seemed to be chewing something.

"There's no Chika here." Chichi replied.

"Fine. Chichi. Whatever. What are you doing? I know we do a lot of staring, but you're actually _talking_ to the adults?"

Yugi decided to cut in, "Hi there, I'm Yugi!"

"I'm devoid of fucks to give. Nice to meet you. Not."

 _I wasn't expecting a 90s joke out of them…_ "We're just trying to do our job is all. We just don't wanna get killed in the process…" Yugi forced a laugh.

"Yeah? Why not? You guys seem to be such good friends, why not join us? I've got a suit with your name on it." Her face cracked into a wry smile, and her eyes seemed to glow red all of a sudden.

Yugi wanted to jump out of his skin, and he felt the blood leave his face. The image of James in the Freddy suit sparked into his mind once more.

Atem's voice broke into his thoughts, "We appreciate the offer, but no thank you. We were actually thinking that you might like to join _us?"_

"Join _you?_ Why would I do that?"

"Chichi, Zephyr and Takeshi seem pretty happy with themselves. Are you happy the way you are?"

"Sure. Why not. Possessing an animatronic male bear was a goal I always aspired towards."

"You could get a new start like your friends here, if you want it." Atem kept his cool the whole time, but on the inside he was praying that he was going about this the right way. She eyed him carefully before glancing at Chichi and Zephyr. Atem now realized that what she was chewing was bubble gum, because she chose now to blow a rather large bubble until it popped and deflated onto her chin. She used her fingers to push it back into her mouth before finally responding, "…Can my name be Riley?"

"Of course. I like that name for you." Atem smiled warmly.

"Cool. Now what?"

"Now you've just got to remember why you're trapped inside Toy Freddy, and let it go."

Riley chewed her gum some more, then blew another large bubble. She was obviously in thought. "So like… I have to forgive my idiot friends for telling me that sneaking in here after hours was a good idea? And forgive them for screaming like morons when we found the asshole that did this in the middle of doing it, running away and getting me caught?"

"Yes. I doubt they were trying to get you killed. They let their fear get the better of them, and it cost you your life… I'm sure they felt awful, imagine being one of them."

"They didn't even try to come back for me!"

"Are you sure about that? And would you, if you had gotten away? After what you saw?"

"Hell yeah I-" She stopped herself. After a moment, her body relaxed, "You're right. We were just a bunch of stupid kids trying to be cool. I'm not sure if I'd even be able to bring myself to tell the police about it, because that would be admitting that I did something I wasn't supposed to… That alone means I have no right to hold it against them. …God what the fuck is it about you guys that lets me use _reasoning_ all of a sudden? I'm starting to feel all mushy…"

Atem brought his arm up in front of his face when the girl began to shine brightly. When it calmed down, he noticed the Eye of Wdjat on her forehead.

"Wow… I really didn't think I could ever feel this good." She smiled, "Thank you."

Atem nodded, "You did this for yourself, you deserve to feel good."

"Hooray Riley! Welcome to the team!" Chichi exclaimed happily, and ran over for a hug. "Hey, Goody-Two-Shoes! Cut that out!" Riley squirmed out of the hug. "You know I hate that!"

Chichi giggled in response, "I'm just so happy for us! Let's go find the Bonnies! Be right back guys!"

"Ah, hold on! Everyone!" Yugi tried to call after them, but the children were too excited to listen. Yugi had hoped at least one of them would stay and play bodyguard. And he was getting worried about Takeshi, he hadn't come back from the basement yet…

Yugi decided to check the cameras. He finally found Takeshi in one of the halls not too far from the basement. He seemed to be talking to Chika, although without being able to see his spirit he couldn't even guess at what they were talking about. He didn't seem to have Atem's phone anymore.

"I need to go find Takeshi." Yugi decided aloud. He handed Atem the tablet and moved for the gate, "Yugi, don't. We promised we wouldn't leave this room unless we absolutely had to."

"He could be in trouble."

"He's fine, you can see him on the camera here. He's just standing there with Chika."

"They've gotten into fights before… I don't want him to end up like Chichi or Zephyr."

"Yugi, he said it himself earlier, he can just fix himself up. Will you stop fiddling with the gate and talk to me?"

Yugi already had the gate unbolted enough to slip under, "Don't worry. I've got my taser, I'll wear the mask. I'll be fine."

Atem rushed over and unbolted more of the gate, but by the time he undid enough of it for himself to get under Yugi was already gone. "Dammit Yugi," Atem swore aloud. He started towards where he remembered the bathrooms being, but heard a robotic noise behind him. He threw on his Freddy mask and turned around, flashlight ready. It was actually too dark to see anything this far from the office, so he decided to turn it on and had his hand on his taser, halfway taking it out of his pocket. He couldn't find anything though. He placed the taser back in is pocket and lifted the mask up off his head as he turned around and came face-to-face with Bonnie. He stared into Bonnie's glowing white endoskeleton eyes. He took a split second to wonder what happened to his actual eyes, before realizing he didn't actually care at the moment.

Atem very rarely felt fear so raw that he couldn't think rationally. He heard the mechanical sound of movement and quickly took about five steps back, now able to see that Bonnie had moved its arms to grab him. "Hello." He squeaked. He'd never heard his voice crack before. There was no spirit child to be seen. Yugi hadn't known how to get the spirit to actually show up, his only explanation was that it happens when they're ready.

Bonnie began to move towards him again, and Atem turned around praying that he could make it back under the gate in time.

But there was the dark figure of another bunny standing in front of the office gate.

He was trapped. His eyes kept scanning the room, his mind running through any and all possible escape routes. The scenario for each quickly played out in his head.

None of them ended well.

He was too terrified to even scream.

* * *

Yugi's lungs began to burn from running. He really wished he had learned how to navigate these stupid halls.

Finally he came up behind Takeshi, who was talking to a little girl. Yugi guessed that she couldn't have been any older than five. She wore a light yellow blouse and a light yellow floral-patterned skirt with white ballet-styled shoes. She had vibrant red, curly hair that reached halfway down her back and bangs that covered the top half of her large blue eyes. Yugi could swear that she was a doll, she even had the creepy-blank-stare factor.

"I thought we all liked to play dress up." She said, probably in response to the last thing Takeshi had said.

"No, not anymore. We've hurt a lot of people. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't think any of us truly do." Takeshi answered.

"I still have lotsa fun with it. Mary says the next one is mine." Her voice was monotone. It chilled Yugi to the bone.

"The Marionette doesn't know what's best for us anymore. There was a time when he looked out for all of us, but that time has passed. Now he just likes killing, and watching the killing. It's not right."

"The Purple Man dressed me up really pretty. I still want to dress him up too."

"The Purple Man is long gone. He probably rotted in a cell somewhere. We don't have to be afraid of him anymore."

"We don't have to be afraid of anyone. We just play dress up. Right… Purple Man?" The girl turned her head and looked directly at Yugi. Takeshi turned around and realized Yugi was standing there, "No! I know his eyes are a similar color but we can't even remember what part of that guy was purple! Yugi wouldn't harm a fly!"

"I want to dress you up like Bonnie!" Her face split into a smile that didn't reach her wide, now crimson eyes as she started running at Yugi. Before he could react Takeshi grabbed the Chika animatronic, stopping the little girl from advancing further. "Let me go! I wanna play dress up!"

"Yugi, run!" Takeshi shouted, but Yugi felt as if his feet had frozen to the floor. He only managed to stutter, "Ah, Annabelle."

The girl stopped struggling for a moment and stared at him. Yugi closed his eyes, since they apparently bothered her.

"Do you like the name Annabelle?"

He didn't get a response, and was afraid to open his eyes.

"I will call you Annabelle until you tell me not to. I understand you like to play dress up? Putting people into deadly suits is not dress up. It's murder. But if you want, you don't have to kill anyone ever again. You could forgive the Purple Man, and pass on. And wherever you go, you'll be able to play real dress up, with clothes and make up and other girls your age who love to dress up. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Silence. Yugi didn't dare open his eyes. He prayed that Takeshi was able to keep his grip on the girl, should she decide she didn't like Yugi's idea.

After what felt like an eternity he got an answer, "I wanna play dress up with dresses. I'm tired of the same old dress up. Okay, Purple Man. You don't matter at all anymore. I just want to finally play with my dolls again."

Through his closed eyelids Yugi could see the light shine from the girl. He opened them and revealed to himself another spirit bearing the Eye of Wdjat on her forehead. Yugi smiled at her, "If you'd like, you can move on without your friends. They won't be mad."

The girl looked up at Takeshi, who smiled and nodded. The girl responded by shaking her head, "I wanna help, like Taka!"

Takeshi laughed, "What is it with you and cute nicknames?"

"I'ma cute girl! Plus your name is so hard…"

Takeshi and Yugi chuckled. Yugi walked over to her and held out his hand, "My name is Yugi."

"That one's easy! Hi Yugi!" She reached out and shook his hand.

"Come on, let's go find my friend! I'm sure he's worried about me." Yugi smiled, and lead the both of them back to the main hall.

Atem held his hand on the taser, staring at Toy Bonnie through the eyes of the Fazbear mask. He began flashing the light at Toy Bonnie by the gate, while turning to Bonnie. Through the mask he could see that he had put it on too late- they knew who he was, and they were coming for him.

He pushed the mask up onto his hair and smiled the warmest smile he could muster, "Hey- hi, uhm, hello." His voice cracked a few more times before he finally found it again, "My name is Atem. I'm friends with Chichi, Zephyr, Takeshi, and now Riley. My friend Yugi and I just want you guys to be able to pass on and find peace. Wouldn't it be nice to get out of a place like this for once? Forget for once- you could do it for forever if you really wanted!" He hated his own rambling, a desperate attempt to beg for his life without saying so outright. It didn't suit him.

But he had never been at the mercy of anything so potentially outright violent and unreasonable before. He had never had an opponent that wanted to directly kill him for the sake of killing him, he always had a chance of winning the game and getting out of it.

But the animatronics weren't playing a game.

Unsure if James and Yugi had lied or if something else was going on, the flashlight didn't affect Toy Bonnie at all. If anything it had provoked the bunny into running at him. He jumped out of the way and watched him stumble and fall after missing his target. Atem ran for the gate, but felt the wind leave his throat when the force of his collar being pulled back choked him. He twisted to see over his shoulder. Bonnie had a firm grip on his shirt. Atem tried to slip his head out of the hole to remove the shirt, but the way Bonnie was holding it didn't allow him any room to do so. He jammed his hand into his pocket for his taser, but dropped it in his haste when he should have tried to have a firm grip on it first. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_ He cried to himself. He writhed around and tried to look Bonnie in the endoskeleton eyes again.

"I can give you a name if you'd like, too? Do you like the name Robin?"

Nothing moved for a full minute. Atem began to wonder what happened to Toy Bonnie, but he couldn't see much from where he was and didn't dare try. Finally, a boy with buzz cut brown hair manifested near Bonnie. He wore a torn and bloodied faded white tank top and dark blue basketball shorts. Atem couldn't see his shoes from where he was.

"Yeah, that's a cool name. Is it really gonna help us get out of here though?" The child stared up skeptically.

"Y-yeah, the only reason the other four are still here is because they don't want to leave without everyone else. I'm sure you guys have become very good friends during your stay together."

"Yeah, not like we have a choice…"

"Well, they had the choice. And they stayed for you."

"We heard what we have to do though. We're not sure we're ready for that."

"Why not?"

"We're simply still angry."

"At who?"

"The Purple Man."

"Purple Man?"

"The guy who did this to us. We realize we may never have revenge, or even justice. But we're still angry."

"Well that's not going to do you any good, is it?"

"It's not about doing us any good."

Atem felt his feet come up off the ground, and his shirt began to choke him worse now that he hung there. He reached up and dug his fingers in between his shirt and neck, trying to allow himself some way to keep his air passage open. He gasped for air. His brain scrambled to find words that might convince the child to put him back down, "They don't want to leave without you," he choked out, "So if you stay here… you're keeping them too… You don't want to do… that to them, do you?"

"I didn't ask them to."

"What about… your friend? Can I call him… Morgan?"

"I'm a girl… Lucky you that's a unisex name."

"I apologize… I can't see the best right now," Atem forced a laugh harder than he ever had before.

"That's understandable. Bonnie, should you really be doing that? You're wasting time, and he could die before we even get him into the suit."

"Yeah, but… this is kinda fun… Why did we never try anything new before?"

"Those are the Marionette's rules. Although I suppose he never said they had to be _alive_ for the suit…"

 _Don't tell me you were the sort of children that tortured small animals for fun…_ Atem gasped for air again, to no avail. His vision began to fade, and the voices of the children became muffled. He thought of Yugi wandering around this place with these psychopaths walking around, and allowed the thought to force his senses back online.

"Don't you want to see your… families again? Old friends? Pets? Don't you want to do something... besides wait for people to come… around to kill? Play sports? Go outside? Video games?"

He listened as the children began to discuss it, every second stealing his consciousness from him. Trying to talk had made it even harder to stay awake.

"I do miss video games."

"I quite miss being able to play basketball with my dad."

"We may not find your dad where we're going."

"Eeh he'd end up there eventually. And we could keep each other company until then."

"That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Can we really just _stop_ being angry though?"

"Well, we just _stopped_ being happy, right?"

"We were killed!" the speaker laughed.

"Yeah, but my point is, we can take control of what we want out of life. Er, death. I think Atem here is right, it's time we do just that."

"Good point. Okay, the Marionette can keep killing to himself. I'll be happy being happy for once in my death."

Atem only saw the bright lights for a second before everything went pitch black.


	8. Night 4

Yugi's brow raised at the familiar bright light coming from the main hall. "Wow, Atem must have saved someone while I was gone! Good job Babe!" he shouted. He heard Annabelle applaud beside him. However, he was not expecting what he saw when the light cleared.

Atem lay unconscious on the floor.

"Atem?" Yugi called. Atem didn't move.

Yugi ran over to him, ignoring the children standing beside him and their apologies. He put his ear to Atem's chest. He could still hear his heart beat, but his breathing was erratic. "I… what do I do?" he looked up at Takeshi, who shrugged.

"What happened?"

"I choked him… I… I'm so sorry," Said the boy in the white tank top.

"I think if you just let him breathe, he'll be okay… but you should probably get him to a doctor just to make sure," Takeshi informed Yugi.

"Help me get him back to the office?"

As Takeshi obliged, Chichi, Zephyr and Riley came back from their search. They immediately bombarded Takeshi with questions, but he allowed Annabelle and Robin explain what they knew.

"We'll protect your gate, just make sure Atem is okay!" Chichi waved at Yugi as he hauled Atem out the door, "I will! I'll be back tomorrow night, and we'll finish this!"

* * *

Yugi made sure he was a good distance from the pizzeria before calling an ambulance. He had no idea what to tell them when they inevitably asked what happened, but Yugi certainly wouldn't be able to drag Atem all the way to the hospital.

* * *

Atem opened his eyes and blinked himself awake before shooting up and checking his surroundings. Everything was so white. It finally dawned on him that he was in a hospital.

His left side felt warm. He looked down and found Yugi's sleeping form curled up beside him. Atem slowly lowered himself back onto the bed and turned on his side so he could stroke Yugi's hair. He wondered what happened after he lost consciousness. Yugi being safe and sound next to him must have meant that whatever happened was a good thing. He ran back through his memory of the Bonnies cornering him. Debating his words amongst themselves as he suffered from lack of oxygen. A bright light.

At least one of them must have been able to forgive, then.

He gave Yugi a kiss on the forehead before allowing himself to fall asleep once more. He already knew that Yugi would go back tonight, and that there would be no arguing with him since their chances of surviving were looking better with each ally they made.

* * *

Atem awoke once more when he felt Yugi get up. "Hey Sleepyhead. How was Dreamland?"

"Atem!" Yugi exclaimed and jumped in for a hug. "I was going to get some breakfast. Er, I guess late lunch by now… what would you like?"

"I can go with you, I feel fine now."

"Are you sure? You're not dizzy or lightheaded or anything?"

"Not even a little. Why, what'd the doctor say?"

"That you'd be fine after some rest, but I'm still worried."

Atem chuckled, "Then let's get some pasta together, and I'll tell you about what happened."

* * *

"Atem why would you follow me! I told you to stay there!" Yugi coughed out through a mouthful of mac and cheese after hearing that Atem followed him out of the office.

"I told _you_ to stay there, why should I be the only one that follows instructions?" Atem said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah but- I- I- You're right. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, I'm okay now, right?"

"But you might not have been… what happened after you tried to follow me? You obviously didn't get far…"

"By the time I'd unbolted enough of the fence to get myself under you were gone. I ran in the direction I watched you go, but I heard something that made me turn around. Next thing I know I'm surrounded by both Bonnies." Atem spared Yugi the details, knowing it would only make him worry more to hear that Atem had, for the first time that he could remember, thought he might die.

"What'd you do to make one of them choke you?"

"Nothing… they just weren't ready to show themselves to me… I tried to improvise, see if I could talk them into revealing themselves. But they still didn't do so until after they almost hung me by my shirt."

"Why did they even- Oh… right… killer animatronics…" tears began to stream down Yugi's face, "I'm so sorry Atem… I'm so sorry… because of me, you almost-"

"Shh, it's okay Aibou. Everything's okay now." Atem sat himself on the same side of the booth as Yugi and pulled him into his chest, "Everything is fine. We're both alive, we've saved seven of the children, and we've got about eight hours to relax and figure out how we tackle tonight."

"Tonight!? Atem, you can't go back after _last_ night!"

Atem stifled the urge to agree and take the get-out-of-jail-free card, "Oh? I thought for sure you'd want to go back and finish what you started."

"I do! I will! But you can't come this time!"

"I don't care what happened to me, I won't let you go alone. In fact, _because_ of what happened to me, I can't let you go alone. And I'll buy some damn handcuffs to chain you to the desk if I have to."

"But… but… You have work tonight, don't you!?" Yugi looked happy to have thought of something different for Atem to do.

"Nope. I already called Kaiba and told him I'm taking the week off."

"What!? And he was okay with that!?"

"Yeah. He knows I don't need the money. If he wants me to come back next week he'll shut up. …Plus I promised him another rematch… I can't say that I mind kicking his butt anyway." Atem smirked.

Yugi leaned into his chest again, "Fine, you win. We'll go back together tonight. And we'll finish this. For James, and every security guard that ever worked with the animatronics in the past and future!"

* * *

They bought Atem a new taser on the way to the restaurant in case the one he dropped had gone missing. They also picked up another flashlight and a cheap MP3 player and speakers that could run on batteries for a few days. They hoped to not need the lullaby to play that long, but they also didn't want to have to worry about it. It was almost ten, and they wanted some time to check on things and let everyone know that Atem was okay.

Yugi unlocked the office door and poked his head in. Everything looked just as he remembered it, aside from the taser and Freddy mask that had been tossed into the room under the still open gate. "Anybody home?" he whispered. He didn't hear anything, and opened the door more so he and Atem could fully enter.

The seven animatronics they made friends with stood side-by-side, facing away from them, forming a wall around the office entrance. Presumably to protect the gate, as they had promised Yugi they would. When they heard the door open, they turned around and waved as best as they could. It was still too early for them to do much else.

After a coin toss, it was decided that Atem would be the one to replace the probably now dead phone with the MP3 player and speakers. Atem knew how to flip the coin in his favor, he would never let Yugi leave the office again. Not if he could help it.

He squeezed through between their animatronic friends and made his way to the basement. Takeshi and Zephyr followed him, still unable to speak. But Atem sensed that they didn't want him wandering around alone again.

He shined his flashlight down the stairs before entering. The smell of iron still hung in the air, and Atem could see traces of blood on the table below him. He tried to imagine what Yugi must have seen and smelled when he discovered James's body, and once again kicked himself for not waking up that night.

Once on the bottom step, he scanned the room for his phone. Takeshi had left it on a table in the back. Atem made his way over to it and placed his hand on it.

Just then there was a loud robotic scream and something large hit the floor with a crash right beside him, along with various metal parts and tools. Atem's reflexes automatically flashed his light on the source of the noise, and before he even realized what it was a garbled, high-pitched voice howled with laughter and spoke, "The _last_ scare I've GOT in _me!_ Feels GOOD _to have_ used it! These _poor old_ springs just _aren't_ what they USED TO be!" The voice's volume was inconsistent and almost difficult to make out, as some words seemed to glitch up and play at an extremely low or high pitch and speed.

Atem stared in horror at the motionless animatronic that lay before him, half outside of a cardboard box and surrounded by the rest of the box's contents. It reminded him of a mime crossed with a jack-in-the-box, with its lengthy black and yellowed striped arms and black body. Its face was the same light shade of yellow as the yellow in between the stripes, if Atem had to guess it was once white. The paint was chipped in various places. The face was badly damaged, with a dented forehead and rusted metal showing through patches of missing paint. It appeared to have once had the same rosy cheeks as the Toy animatronics upstairs, and painted on lipstick. Black lines ran down from its hollow eyes, resembling large trails of tears.

" _What's wrong?_ Prettier than you EXPECTED?" It roared with laughter once more.

Atem could already tell this was not the time to try talking to the Marionette. He was certifiably insane. Ignoring further taunting, he set up the MP3 player and speakers as soon as he could and tucked his dead phone into his pocket. The puppet went silent when Atem turned it on, and Atem prayed he was at least content listening to the music.

Atem tried to focus on getting back to Yugi, but the Marionette's voice still rang in his head. The pitches of his voice, still distinctly the voice of a child, the way his voice sped up and slowed down to a devilish pace… and the strange, almost demonic voice that seemed to speak at the same time. It made it even harder to understand him. Atem shook his head in an attempt to shake the thoughts and focused harder on the office. He almost ran into Takeshi, who had stopped short in front of him and stared at him. Atem sensed the concern, "I'm fine. Lost in thought." He wanted to get back, help the remaining two Freddys, Balloon Boy, and… well, go home. The Marionette was screwed.

… _Yugi won't let us give up. Even if he is too far-gone._ Atem sighed to himself and resumed following Takeshi while Zephyr brought up the rear. More than ever now he just wanted to put this damned place behind him.

* * *

"Atem there you are! I was just about to go and look for you! You realize it's been like half an hour?" Yugi yelled through the gate, clearly distressed. Atem slipped under and Yugi began to bolt the gate down, "I'm sorry, Yugi. I got held up."

"By what!? You shouldn't have stuck around to look at whatever it was, you never know when they'll wake up now that the restaurant hasn't been open in a day! And Golden Freddy can act during the day if he really wants… he's strong, Atem."

"So is the puppet."

"Huh?"

"The Marionette was already awake when I got there. Gave me a good scare, but as Takeshi said he couldn't move much. He lunged forward and knocked over the box he was in, but just lay there after that. Well, lay there and talk…"

"He talked to you!? So we stand a chance to get him back after all!"

"Yeah, he talked… but no spirit appeared… That hasn't happened, has it? His voice was so… _wrong._ Demonic. He spoke like an insane person."

Yugi looked down at the floor, "Oh… Dang. Well, we'll try again after the Freddys. Maybe with all of his friends there, he can finally move on with them."

"I hope so, Yugi…"

They sat on the floor in silence as they waited for their friends to manifest. Yugi sat with his back against Atem's chest, holding his hand while Atem stroked his hair with the other. Yugi really appreciated this calm before the storm.

It didn't take long for the storm to kick up, however.

Yugi sighed and opened his eyes after having them closed for a minute, and in his face was the familiar sight of the gold bear. He flinched and threw his arms in front of his face, any attempts to back up halted by Atem already occupying the space. "Yugi! Yugi calm down! What's wrong?"

"I- he- Golden Freddy- he was right…" Yugi sighed, "I forgot he can make me hallucinate… It surprised me."

"It's alright, Aibou. He can't get us in here." Atem stood up and flipped on the generator. He listened to the now familiar hum of the generator as it sent electricity into the gate. He then helped Yugi to stand up and they both looked towards their friends, who had finally begun showing their child selves.

Eagerly Annabelle, Zephyr and Robin went to look for the remaining member of their original crew while the Toy children remained with the Duelists as bodyguards. Now that neither of them were distracted, the two men had a quick look at Morgan. She wore a midnight blue blouse and blue jeans with black Vaans. Her raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail by a white scrunchie and she had short bangs that sat just above her eyebrows.

Now that they had seen most of the children, Yugi realized that they were between eight and ten years old, with Annabelle and Riley being the only outliers so far. He imagined what Chichi had told him about her memory of her own death, happening to ten- no, eleven other children. Had this happened to the Marionette too? Yugi had no way to be sure. And even now he was only assuming that the remaining spirits were younger than Riley.

Yugi looked up when he heard their friends return. They were all trying to convince the girl they were pushing forward of how wonderful they felt now that they had let go of their anger and fear and embraced the idea of doing anything else. But he wasn't sure if she was listening. If it weren't for them pushing her Yugi was sure she would have stopped and turned around.

When they finally stopped pushing her she was standing in front of the gate. Surprisingly she was about Riley's age after all, maybe a bit older. Or a lot older. Her clothing made Yugi wonder how her parents ever let her out of the house. She was your stereotypical 80s punk girl, with hair as purple as Yugi's eyes, so fluffy Yugi had to wonder if she'd dyed a Kuriboh to wear on her head. Her shirt was crudely cut off and exposed her midriff, and she wore a jean jacket over it. She wore jean shorts over fishnet tights with a black belt that read "Lucky 13" in a gothic font all the way around, and ankle-high black rain boots. Her make-up was also done badly, whoever had applied it was either inexperienced or hadn't realized that they were painting a face not a horror scene. Her face was painted white and she had dark circles painted around her eyes, making them appear very sunken into her face. The only part that looked like the artist knew how to do correctly was the black lipstick.

She stared at them expectantly, arms folded and foot tapping with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi realized he had to break the silence, because she didn't really care if anything happened or not.

"Hi there, my name is Yugi."

"So?"

"So, uh, I want to be your friend. Your friends already seem to really like us, so-"

"So?"

"So… I mean, aren't you sick of this place?"

"So?"

Yugi frowned. This was as bad as playing the "Why" game.

Atem decided to cut in, "What's with that get-up? You're like, twelve or something? Did your parents really let you wear that?"

"I guess. I can't remember. And I don't really care to. They probably didn't care either, since I'm the only one who looks this out of place."

"That's not necessarily true. Maybe you just liked to dress that way and they were willing to support your decision."

"I guess that could be true. Who really knows. Or cares."

"You don't?"

"I stopped caring decades ago."

"Why?"

"It hurt too much."

"Why?"

"I felt abandoned. They came looking for us, but never found us. No idea if they even held a funeral. And I wouldn't care if they did."

"Why?" It took Yugi all of his effort not to even smirk at Atem turning her game on her.

"It wouldn't matter anyway. They say goodbye and then, that's it? I didn't get to say any goodbyes! I'm still stuck here with these losers!"

"Have you tried saying any goodbyes?"

"I- I can't… I still want to see them some day…"

"You'll never be able to if you don't say goodbye now and move on. You'll see them eventually, nothing lasts forever. Not even your time apart from each other."

The girl stood in silence, staring at her feet with her arms at her sides.

Atem smiled, "I'll bet your name was something cute, too, like Hailey. But you wanted something cool, like Razor."

Her arms reached back behind her and she looked down and to the right now.

"You can have whichever name you like."

She finally looked up at him, "If I'm really going to say goodbye, and get out of here… I'd like Hailey…"

He nodded in response, "I like it too."

The girl closed her eyes and held her hands up in prayer, "I'd like to say goodbye to my family, whoever they may be and wherever they are now. I know I loved you, even though I must have been a troubled kid. But I appreciate anything you did for me, and forgive you for anything you failed to do. I hope to see you again in the afterlife."

She emanated light, and when it cleared nobody even recognized her. She now had strawberry blond hair that went just a little past her shoulders and hung straight to frame her face. She wore a simple white dress with white ballet shoes. Her face was devoid of the make up that had previously made it almost unrecognizable as a face, instead showing off adorable baby cheeks peppered with freckles. She also bared the expected Eye of Wdjat.

"Wow! You're like a whole new person, Hailey!" Annabelle exclaimed.

Hailey looked down at herself, and smiled when she realized Annabelle was right. "I feel like a whole new person. I wish we could have done this years ago."

"Let's go get B.B. now!" Morgan said and ran off with Annabelle. The rest of them split up until it was just Zephyr and Takeshi as bodyguards again.

"It's almost over, guys." Yugi smiled at them from behind the gate. The children smiled back, "I'm getting excited for sure, but I dunno if I'd count on 'almost.'" Zephyr replied.

"Why not?"

"Golden Freddy and the Marionette… they're even crazier than we were before you got here."

"They never felt like 'friends…' they felt more like mob bosses. And we're the mob." Takeshi added.

"Ex-mob… you know what happens to them, right?" Zephyr laughed nervously.

"There's way more of us now! We could take 'em!"

Suddenly the lights went out. Yugi and Atem tried to get their flashlights on, but to no avail. Yugi looked where he remembered the desk being, hoping the light from the forgotten tablet might help. But it wasn't visible, either. The only thing he could think to do now was to grab Atem's hand, to which Atem responded by squeezing tightly.

"It looks like he's found us…" Yugi heard Takeshi say in the darkness. Just then they heard the slow, oddly rhythmic laughter of a child. "Ness, cut it out. They're here to help us!"

Yugi wondered if Ness and B.B. were the same person, but this was not the time to ask.

"If they wanted to help, they'd get in the suits and we'd be done with this! I'm tired of all the chaos!" the boy replied.

"We're the majority now, Ness! _You three_ are the chaos!"

"We could go back though! Back to how things were, how they should be!"

"No, B.B. Things should never have been the way they were," Zephyr replied, "We're all dead, we should have gone on to Heaven or Hell or the afterlife or whatever. Anything is better than what we were. Come with us!"

"Who's to say that is better than the Marionette's idea of Heaven?"

"I haven't even _actually_ moved on yet, and I'm already happier!" Takeshi chimed back in, "Trust us! We can all get out of this together!"

"But what if _they_ get mad?"

"Who cares!? We'll all protect you! You don't have to be afraid of them anymore! You're _my_ little Ness! _Our_ Ness! And we can finally go play that game I told you about!"

 _Game? Ness? …Balloon Fight?_ Yugi wondered to himself, knowing it was a silly connection to make considering that his only clues were the NES and possibly the fact that the animatronic advertised balloons.

"You're assuming they even have it…"

"It's the world of the dead, of course they have it! They have everything!"

"…Promise you won't let them be mad at me?"

"Cross my heart and hope to… y'know."

Everything went from pitch black to the whitest white Yugi could ever remember seeing, and when it cleared the office looked brighter than it had ever looked. Probably due to his eyes trying to adjust.

Yugi didn't have time to see the spirit of the child. Once his eyes had adjusted enough to not hurt to look, they rested on the yellow bear slumped over in the corner of the room. Yugi couldn't tear his eyes away, his thoughts a mix of panic and curiosity as to how the bear got in. Something about the sight of it stole logic from him, and he was unable to tell himself that it wasn't real.

He didn't look away until his gaze was forced away from it when Atem grabbed him by the chin, "Yugi! It's not real!"

Yugi blinked and stared into Atem's eyes, feeling his senses return to him. "I'm sorry Atem… I don't…" Yugi's voice trailed off.

"Atem, this is night four for Yugi, and to top it off the remaining two are _pissed._ Golden Freddy is the only one left with any power… And he's not going to let up." Zephyr explained sadly.

"How do we stop him?"

"Same way you stopped the rest of us… Unfortunately… Yugi has to be bait."

"What!? No, I won't have it! We'll go talk to him together!"

"He's going to attack Yugi no matter where he is. If anything, taking Yugi _closer_ to him will be much worse."

Atem swore under his breath, and Yugi spoke up, "I'll be fine, Atem. Go talk to him," he smiled the sweetest smile he could muster.

However, Atem recognized that smile. It was the one Yugi forced himself to smile when he didn't want to worry anyone.

"It's safe to let you guys into the office now, right? If you and Takeshi are in here to stop him from looking at it, I'll feel a lot better."

"Sure, there's more than enough of us to take him if we have to. Although he plays mind games more than anything…"

Atem nodded and completely removed the gate so Takeshi, Zephyr and Ness could step inside. Just as he was putting it back up the rest of the animatronics showed up, "What's going on?" asked Chichi.

Atem explained the plan while he re-bolted as much of the gate as he could and still leave room for himself to slip under on his stomach, "Can two more of you stay here and watch Yugi from this side, and the rest of you back me up?"

"Of course! Annabelle, Chichi? Can you two stay here?" Hailey asked, turning towards the girls. They each nodded. "Autobots, roll out!" She motioned for the rest of them to follow, and Atem almost cracked a smile- which was amazing, considering how much he was worrying and panicking on the inside. After the Bonnies and Marionette, Atem never wanted to be near another animatronic, insane or not.

But he would just have to bite the bullet until it was over. He was thankful that he couldn't actually see the children's animatronics when the children were manifested, because he really wasn't sure if he could handle being near them without the gate anymore either.

* * *

Yugi sat in the corner of the office surrounded by the three spirits of his friends. They told him to keep his eyes closed, and Takeshi told the story of how he started calling B.B. Ness. As Yugi had guessed, it was because of Balloon Fight. "I remember playing it in my room after my homework was done," Takeshi recounted, "My parents had gotten me a Ness for my birthday recently. Either it had to be my favorite, or my only one, because I can't say I remember any others. Or maybe it's because of B.B. that I remembered it." Ness decided to take over, "He started telling me about how I reminded him of that game, and Ness sounds like such a cool name! He offered to start calling me that… I'm so excited to be able to play it when this is all over!"

 _It's me!_

Yugi's eyes shot open and he looked around, then they widened even further when sitting at the far end of the room between his friends he could see the golden bear slumped over, somehow looking more decrepit than ever.

 _It's me! It's me! It's me!_

One of the children placed their animatronic arm in front of his face, but the bear already had his attention, manipulating his vision into seeing nothing but the bear. He felt his face get pushed to the side, but his eyes stayed focused on the bear.

He barely heard his friends over the chanting, "If I push his face any more I'll snap his neck! What do we do?"

"Pick him up and turn him around! He's not an owl!"

 _It'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'smeit'sme IT'S ME!_

All Yugi saw when he was turned around was blackness with a lone, swinging light bulb illuminating a checkerboard floor. And right below the light was that goddamned bear.

Yugi screamed.

* * *

Atem heard the scream from across the restaurant, and swore under his breath. The bear hadn't been at the prize counter. Or the stage hall, or Pirate's Cove, or the arcade, or the bathrooms or the basement or the halls near it. They had already run all over the pizzeria, and they were out of ideas.

"Wait! There's one place we haven't checked!" Hailey exclaimed, and ran back towards the labyrinthine halls. The rest of them followed suit until they came upon the supply closet. Atem raised his eyebrow, then shrugged. She was pretty much right about it being the only place they hadn't looked.

Atem reached for the knob and turned it, after which he realized it wasn't actually closed. He slowly pulled it open. There, sitting on the floor with his knees to his chest and his arms laying carelessly on either side of him, was a very small boy, no older than four. He stared blankly forward, not even aware that anyone had entered his sacred space. His clothes were torn up so badly Atem could hardly tell what they once were, and he was covered in so much blood that he couldn't even tell where his wounds were. His golden blond hair cast a shadow over one of his golden eyes and his mouth hung open slightly.

Atem knelt in front of the boy and stared into his vacant eye, "Hey, are you alright?"

Atem tried not to jump when the eye he could see darted up at him. It was the only movement the child made. "I just want to help. You're safe now. Nobody can hurt you ever again." Atem smiled, and reached his hand out to the boy. He blinked as he did so, and within that split second everything changed.

He found himself in blackness lit by only a single light bulb swinging from the invisible ceiling.

 _It's me!_

He couldn't tell where the whisper was coming from, and began to look around frantically. Suddenly the one swinging light turned into an infinite straight line expanding in front and behind him.

 _It's me!_

Atem picked a direction and began to walk, "You don't have to be alone anymore. I'm here. My friend is here. Your friends are here. We all just want you to move on to better things."

 _It's me! It's me!_

" _Who are you!?"_

Atem spun around when he heard Yugi's voice call out in response. "Yugi! Can you hear me!"

" _Who_ are _you!?"_

Atem closed his eyes and thought of the light within himself, the light that Yugi had placed there and helped him grow. He felt it connect with Yugi instantly, and ran towards it without opening his eyes. He didn't need to be able to see anything but this light.

 _It's me! It's me!_

He used the light to drown out the sound of the voice, until finally he felt Yugi right in front of him. He opened his eyes and they fell on his Aibou, crumpled up on the floor with the child standing over him. Yugi's hands were on his ears and his eyes were shut tight, and he kept screaming "Who are you!?"

 _He probably doesn't know the answer, just like the others. But maybe that's not what he's trying to say…_

"No, it's not you."

The child looked up from Yugi, that one eye staring as blankly as ever at him.

"You're not the one who started this. You're not the one that caused this."

The child's expression didn't change, but tears did begin to spill from his eyes, leaving clean trails through the blood on his face.

 _It's me…_

"Come on, you know more than those two words, right?"

 _It's…_

"You can stop now. The man that did this is gone."

A low, animatronic scream reverberated throughout the wall-less room, causing Atem to drop to his knees from the pain of hearing it. When he looked up again he was surrounded by hundreds of copies of the gold bear.

"Yugi!" He immediately called out, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance, "Help me!"

* * *

Yugi's eyes snapped open, Atem's voice ringing out above the whispering. He stared up at the boy standing over him. He forced himself to get up, feeling very weak from the onslaught of horror. The boy never broke eye contact. Once he was on his knees, Yugi slapped the boy across the face, ignoring the blood that went flying and was now on his hand. Yugi placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, and the boy reestablished eye contact, he appeared to be unaffected by the action, "You have been punished. And now," Yugi smiled gently and pulled the boy into a hug, "You have been forgiven." Yugi heard the child begin to sob before everything went white.

* * *

 **Miqu- I appreciate your comments! I'd love for you to share my story! And I'd like to say that I believe the Mangle character is a girl, but I thought it would be too convenient if the animatronics were all possessed by children of their own gender so I wanted to mix it up. Also, I chose not to establish it somewhere within the actual story, because explaining why Atem has his own body would have distracted from the story I actually wanted to tell and I couldn't find a simple enough explanation, but this is some time after the Millennium Items have been sealed away, so no more magic.**

 **I hope that everyone will continue to enjoy it, not much longer now before all of it will be up!**


	9. Night 5- SAVEHIM

Atem opened his eyes and found himself in the main hall outside the office, surrounded by the animatronics. "Hey, guys… what time is it?" He asked, but the only response he got was Bonnie holding up all eight of his fingers. _At least 8AM then. That would explain why I can't see their spirits._

He stood up from the floor and dusted himself off, "Where's Yugi?"

Toy Chika pointed at the office, where the two Foxys and B.B. sat in the corner. Atem slipped under the still-slightly-open gate and looked over their shoulders. Yugi lay passed out in their arms, "Yugi! Yugi, wake up!" Atem worriedly started to shake him as B.B. and Lady Foxy got out of the way. Foxy still held him up. After a minute of Atem trying to call his name and shaking and poking and even a sleeping-beauty kiss (to which he could somehow still hear the children let out a mix of "awww!" and "gross!"), Yugi finally woke up when Atem was about to slap him for not responding to the kiss.

Too bad Atem hadn't noticed as his hand flew across his cheek.

" _Hey!_ Atem what the hell was _that_ for!?" He yelled, rubbing his now red cheek.

"Yugi!" Atem wrapped his arms around him, "You weren't waking up, I was worried… You always wake up when I kiss you…"

Yugi felt his face grow hot, "Sorry, passing out isn't exactly the easiest thing to wake up from… Wait, what happened to Golden Freddy?"

"I'm not sure, he's not with the others, and they're unable to talk right now… Let's go get some rest. Everyone, we'll be back tonight. Yugi and I both need to get some sleep before we try to help the Marionette."

The animatronics all bowed in agreement. Atem opened up the gate and let everyone out, then decided to just leave it up. Nobody left would be able to break it.

With another promise to see them that night, Atem and Yugi left the building with nothing but coffee and waffles in mind.

* * *

"God, I'm so exhausted my waffles look more like pillows," Yugi admitted as he stared longingly into his food. "Put some syrup on them, the idea of waking up with that on your face will deter the sleep a while longer," Atem chuckled as he passed the bottle. Yugi nodded and generously poured it onto his breakfast, "I can't say that the entire experience hasn't been taking its toll on me, even with skipping class to get more sleep, but last night especially… I feel like Lucas literally sucked the energy out of me."

"Lucas? Do you think he might have moved on already? I didn't see him with the other animatronics…"

"I hope so, he was so young… he deserves it as much as the rest of them."

Atem smiled in response, then his face fell again, "I'm sorry you're so tired. I know it takes much more than sleep and breakfast to recover from events like these. But I also know you won't give up until you've helped everyone there. Tell you what, let's finish our breakfast quickly. Then we'll get home and nap, and after that I'll treat you to a little something special," he winked.

Yugi's face flushed red, "Oh- okay," he shoveled another bite of waffle into his mouth, suddenly unable to make eye contact with his boyfriend. Yugi was never able to keep his cool after that wink. He heard Atem laugh softly on the other end of the table.

* * *

After Atem fulfilled his promise of sleep and a treat, they decided to sit down to a game of Duel Monsters. Neither of them tried very hard, it was just something familiar to take their minds off of everything. Or at least an attempt to get their minds off of everything.

"What if we can't save him?" Yugi asked as he played his next card.

"The Puppet? Yugi, don't worry about that right now. We still have a few hours."

"We should have a plan going in. You said he sounded insane. I know we've dealt with crazy people before, but those were _people…_ Even Yami Bakura was trapped inside an item that took over Bakura's body. I could relate to that. Minus the evil part…"

Atem set his cards down and shifted so he was next to Yugi and pulled him into a hug, "He's the only one left now. All of his friends are saved. One of them may have even passed on already. They will help him to see the light and free his soul."

"You really think it's possible?"

"I've seen you do many impossible things, Yugi. So even if it isn't possible, I know you'll find a way regardless," Atem smiled, and laid a kiss on Yugi's forehead. Yugi smiled and snuggled into his chest, "Thanks, Atem. You always know what to say."

"Would you prefer it if we popped in a movie and moved this to the couch? It's difficult to play Duel Monsters side-by-side like this," Atem chuckled, and without waiting for a response he lifted Yugi up and placed him gently on the couch. They picked out a movie and heated up some TV dinners, enjoying what they hoped would be the last day they had to spend wondering if they would be alive to do this again tomorrow.

* * *

This time they showed up an hour later than usual. They knew they wouldn't need any set up time, the only remaining animatronic could not move to attack them. Plus they needed to be able to speak to their friends about him.

The first thing they noticed when they got in was the lack of Golden Freddy, despite all of the other animatronics having shown up.

"Where's Lucas- Golden Freddy?" Yugi asked them.

"At the prize counter, where he's programmed to be. His spirit is gone though, he seems to have moved on without us." Zephyr replied.

"Oh, I'm glad he's okay then. So, onto the task of the night. Chichi, you're the one who spoke to him the most, right? Do you have any idea how we can save him?"

"I wish I did, Yugi. But as Atem mentioned before, he's crazy… from loneliness, sadness, anger, regret, betrayal… He tried to save us from the purple man. That's how the rule started… to be without a suit is to be vulnerable."

Yugi sighed, "Then I guess, we'll just all go down there and let him know you're all saved?"

The children looked at each other, then shrugged. Collectively they began walking down the hall towards the basement.

Once again the memory of James's death gripped Yugi, and he had to pause to shake it off. Atem placed his hands on his shoulders, and Yugi looked up at him with a half smile, "I'm fine, sorry." "No need to apologize. If you need a minute, then take one."

Yugi nodded and pushed his face into Atem's chest. That always calmed him down. After a moment he broke the embrace, "Okay, I'm ready." They continued down the stairs.

The music was still playing, but somehow the air in the dark room felt wrong. "Wait, did anyone turn off the lights?" Atem asked after reviewing his memory. In his haste to get the hell out of the room he certainly had not done so the last time he was here. He didn't remember having to even turn them on in the first place.

Nobody else knew why they were off, either.

Whoever was bringing up the rear took it upon themselves to try the light switch, "It's not working," Annabelle's voice rang out in the darkness.

"Guess we're relying on flashlights…" Atem muttered under his breath as he pulled his out, and Yugi followed suit. He immediately shined it where he remembered the puppet being.

Just as some part of him deep in the pit of his dropped stomach had expected, he was gone.

Over the loudspeaker he could hear the familiar inconsistent pitch of the Marionette's voice, "Lose _something?"_ Laughter, "I've survived IN THIS PLACE _for years!_ A dozen _places just like_ IT! I'VE PICKED up a trick or _two! And I_ REFUSE TO LET ANYONE take me ever again!"

Atem and Yugi shined their lights at each other and the children, "He wants us to split up and look for him… I can't figure out how he moved when he was in working order, but now? He could be anywhere… The place is too big for us to move together and expect to find him even before dawn." Atem shook his head, "Damned if we do and damned if we don't…"

"Let's split up," Yugi replied, "There's ten of us, even if we split up we can do so into larger groups."

"I'll only agree to that if you're okay with not being in the same group as Atem. You're both… squishy. I'd feel better if we had two groups of three animatronics and one of each of you in the other groups. That way you each have three bodyguards. Whoever the two are should be okay on their own as long as they watch each other's backs." Zephyr reasoned.

Yugi sighed when he realized he was right, "Alright, fine. You, me, Takeshi and Chichi?" They nodded.

"Can Morgan and I go with Atem? We still feel awful about what happened…" Robin asked shyly, "We wanna make it up to you."

"I'm alright with that," Atem replied, trying to shove his initial memory of them back down his throat. It wasn't about forgiving them for what they did, it was simply a newly developed primal fear that he would have to learn to overcome.

"Can I come too?" Annabelle asked, Robin looked at her and smiled.

"Guess that leaves us, Hailey." Riley turned to her counterpart and smiled. "God, I know we got stuck inside the Freddy suits, but I didn't think that made us best friends or anything," Hailey laughed. They all began their walk upstairs and split up as promised, and also agreed to meet back in front of the basement in an hour.

Hailey and Riley decided to give the hallway maze a run-down and check the bathrooms and kitchen.

Atem's group took to searching the arcade and main hall. They checked behind all of the arcade cabinets, under the tables of the main hall, and behind the stage curtains.

Yugi's group checked Pirate's Cove and the private party rooms. They started by checking under tables before Yugi found an open door at the bottom of the stage and asked his friends about it. Zephyr answered, "How do you think I get down from the stage, and back up there in time for the place to open?"

"You mean it's not locked?"

"Not at night. Cecil lets me roam more places than just the stage, and as long as I don't give anyone any trouble getting back up there it'll probably stay that way."

"That's nice of him. I guess we should check it out though, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll do it." Zephyr made his way over to the door and disappeared within its frame. A moment later he appeared atop the stage, and Yugi watched him look around. Just as Zephyr turned to face Yugi again he shouted, and before Yugi realized what was happening his feet were off the ground and the world was spinning by very quickly, he felt ropes around his body and neck, immediately making it difficult on focus on getting away. He couldn't figure out how he was doing it, but the Marionette had him not only tied up in his limbs but was also carrying him across the ceiling. Then again, maybe he didn't need his stubby legs for walking.

Yugi grabbed at what he assumed was his arm and tried to pull, to no avail. He heard a scurrying noise coming from behind the puppet and looked in its direction. Past the puppet's apparently floating body he could see Takeshi trying his best to catch up, being the only one who could traverse the ceiling. Unfortunately the Marionette had lost any physical limitations it had left and simply sped up when it realized it was being followed. Lights it passed by began to shatter, and he heard the other children begin to shout at each other below him. He heard a few cheers for Takeshi, but also the mix of panic that came with the realization that Takeshi wasn't going to be able to keep up. Yugi tried pulling at the arm around his neck again, but this only made it tighten. Soon the commotion faded out and Yugi felt them come to a stop in the pitch blackness. He then felt the arms loosen and he tried to stand, but he hit his head and dropped back to the floor quickly. He rubbed the newly forming bump and opened his eyes. All he could see were the two white pinpricks of the Marionette's eyes, which made him attempt to back up but he only managed to immediately end up in a corner. He tried to scramble in the other direction, but smacked into yet another wall. His conclusion was that they were inside of a box.

The idea of being trapped in a box with this thing made him instantly claustrophobic. Suddenly he remembered the taser in his pocket and reached for it.

"WHAT'S WRONG, _Yugi? I thought you_ wanted to save me?" it laughed, causing Yugi to freeze.

"I- I do. I'm sorry. I just don't get kidnapped every day." _I miss when Atem could bust out and kick their butt as soon as they tried!_

"Aah, I'm sorry. Forgive my IGNORANCE. SO, HOW _about a game?"_

* * *

"Goddammit, how could we lose them!?" Atem shouted angrily as he swung his flashlight around the room. "I'm so sorry, Atem… He's moving using only spirit energy, I can't race that…" Takeshi replied in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Takeshi, don't feel bad… I'm just… He's my boyfriend, and my best friend and my partner and my light and my savior and my lover and my world and I fucking let something take him! Again!" He kicked the nearest thing to him, which happened to be a chair. He took in a deep breath and held it before letting it go, "I'm sorry… Any idea where he might have taken him?"

"Well our first thought was the Marionette's box, but… it's not where it should be," Chichi responded.

"Great," Atem sighed again. He closed his eyes and focused on seeing Yugi's light, but as he expected the whole restaurant was covered in the puppet's darkness.

"Let's split up again."

* * *

The next thing Yugi knew he was standing outside in the rain. He turned around and was met with a large window that allowed him to look in to what appeared to be another Freddy Fazbear's restraunt. Freddy quickly walked to each of the children at a party and held out a large plate of cake to each child, who promptly took a slice. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.

That was when Yugi heard a car roll up behind him. He turned to get a better look, but only managed to catch a glimpse of purple before his world filled with pain and then quickly faded to black. Just before it faded completely he caught a glimpse of the puppet's mask in the glass, reflected where Yugi should have been able to see his face.

* * *

When he awoke he felt very stiff, he tried to move around to loosen up but quickly realized he was an animatronic. Panic overcame him initially, but it subsided when he realized he should be _dead_ if he were really inside of a suit. _What's going on?_ He tried to ask aloud, but no voice came out. Having another look at his hand lead him to conclude that he was inside of one of the Freddys. He looked up and saw the puppet leading him out of the room, somehow floating as it had when it had kidnapped him. Yugi followed it as best as he could on clunky legs. _What kind of game are we playing? He didn't explain any rules. Heck he didn't even wait for me to answer, I just passed out…_

He followed the Marionette through several rooms, spotting Hailey, Robin and Annabelle on the way. Not their animatronics, or spirits. But their actual bodies, clearly broken and bloodied. Yugi swallowed and tried not to stare at them for too long. _Don't worry guys, we'll save the puppet and then you'll all be free,_ Yugi thought. Just then he saw a purple blur and his world was one of pain once more. He heard "you can't" whispered to him before all became nothing.

* * *

He opened his eyes and still felt stiff as a board. Checking his hands again, he concluded that he was now in Foxy's body. Yugi decided to just roll with it at this point.

He stared out from purple star curtains and decided to step beyond them. Standing in the corner of the room was a man dressed in purple, just smiling. Panic overcame him again and he took off in the other direction, but the next sight made him wish he had kept his cool better.

The bodies of Hailey, Robin, Annabelle, Zephyr and Lucas were all sprawled out on the floor, drenched in blood with tears making clear paths in any blood that had made its way onto their faces. Once again, Yugi succumbed to darkness.

* * *

This time when he awoke his body wasn't as stiff. For a moment he thought he might be back in reality, but it still didn't feel quite right. He decided to have another look at his hands. He was shocked to see the long, black and white three-fingered hands of the Marionette. Looking down, he was floating. Somehow this was just the way the puppet got around? Was it really acceptable to the original owner for it to just float around powered by spirit energy?

He had a look around the room. The same bodies. He felt compelled to give them something to cheer them up. Feelings Yugi had to assume weren't actually his, because there's not much that would cheer up a dead child… Still, he picked up cake, prizes from the prize counter, anything he could find that might make the children happy. They never even moved. Finally, he picked up Hailey and carried her over to Freddy. Yugi tried to stop himself, but he knew now that he wasn't actually doing anything. He was watching through the Marionette's eyes. He forced the body into the Freddy Fazbear suit, and did the same with the rest of the bodies and suits around the pizzeria. " _Why would you do that? Why would you hide the bodies for him!?"_ Yugi cried.

" _I only wanted them to be happy… I only remember being so sad… I didn't want anyone to be as sad as I was."_

" _How was putting them in the suits supposed to help!?"_

The puppet's laugh reverberated through the memory, _"I didn't say it made sense… I had experienced death, but I still couldn't comprehend it… Especially not when I was still here. Every one of them is still_ here. _…But, I guess that's not what death is supposed to be, is it…"_

They sat in silence for a moment, and the memory faded out. Yugi found himself staring at a small boy with very short blond hair and a blue shirt, and large tearstains running down his cheeks. Yugi knelt down and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Do you feel like you comprehend it better now?"

"Not completely… but better…"

"Nobody will ever completely grasp it… but, you and your friends should move on if you have the chance. I'm sure you've felt as though you don't belong here anymore."

The boy nodded, "You're right… We're all dead, and I accept that. And whatever that guy in purple did killed us, sure, but there's nothing that we can do about it. Vengeance or justice won't make us feel any better at this point. Besides, I'm sure karma got him for us long ago!" The boy laughed before everything faded to white.

* * *

"So nobody found anything?" Atem lamented after they met back up in the main hall. It was almost 6AM. Nobody else had disappeared, but Yugi also hadn't turned up and they all feared the worst. Just then the blond boy appeared to them, "Hey, guys. I'm really sorry about everything I might have done to you guys… can we all just be friends, and get out of here?"

"Y-yeah, but where's Yugi?" Zephyr replied shakily.

"Oh, sorry. My box was still in the basement the whole time, but I moved it to a cupboard. Yugi should be on his way here now," he smiled.

"We can't go until we know he's safe," Zephyr looked at him sadly, "But I'm really glad to have you with us again," he smiled before turning to run towards the basement with everyone else.

They found Yugi reaching the top of the stairs and tried not to run him over with hugs, realizing that that much metal colliding with a human at once would most certainly cause some sort of irreparable damage. Only Atem actually allowed his body to slam into Yugi's in one of the most anticipated hugs Atem could remember. "Hey guys! I thought you all would have moved on with the Mari- er, with Scott by now," Yugi choked out through Atem's iron hug.

"Scott? Me?" The boy asked, pointing to himself.

"Everyone else got names! You deserve one too," he smiled. Scott laughed, "Only you could have triggered everything that would lead to us moving on and being happy, Yugi. I knew something good would come from contacting you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

This started the eruption of "Thank you!" and "you're the best!" and so on, directed not only at Yugi but also at Atem. Yugi began to blush, "Oh no, I just want you guys to be happy. Everyone deserves to be happy."

"Indeed, please have a wonderful afterlife," Atem added.

"Now get out of here before something crazy happens!" Yugi joked. With one final thank you, the children said their united goodbye to their two mortal friends and faded into white light.

Once it cleared, Atem pulled Yugi into the tightest hug he could without suffocating him, "You're really the best, most caring person I've ever met. I wish it didn't cause us so much stress and near-death experiences, but I really love your empathy, loyalty and irrational, irresistible need to help others. After that ordeal however, I must beg you to give me a month to recover before you decide to save someone else's soul."

Yugi giggled, "I'll try not to jump back in too soon. Ready to go home?"

"Yeah. Do you know how long you were gone for? It's just about breakfast time."

"Really? Scott showed me some crazy stuff that kept knocking me out… I guess I'll tell you about it over breakfast. Can we get burgers? I really need something different."

"Anything, Yugi. Anything but pizza."

* * *

Before they left the pizzeria office for the last time, Yugi paused and said a small prayer for the children and James, and gave thanks that nobody would ever have to suffer any number of nights at Freddy's again.

* * *

 **There's still the epilogue left, but I think even without that I ended this on a good note. You could take or leave the epilogue, I felt compelled to write one but honestly I feel like it makes for a weak ending. I couldn't figure out how to make it stronger than this one but the story felt unfinished to me without one... Oh well, at least it's cute. Thank you again for taking the time to read my work!**

 **To kuaispeed: Thank you so much for your review! I am quite proud of it, and it always makes me happy to hear that people enjoy my stories because I do work really hard on them.**


	10. Epilogue

A month later the investigation finally came to a close, and Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was allowed to reopen. The case was considered cold, they weren't even able to find any viable suspects.

Yugi got a call from Cecil with the news, offering him his job now that the place was open again. "I appreciate that Cecil, but after what happened to James I just don't think I could bring myself to do it."

"I understand completely, but I knew I should at least ask before putting the help wanted sign back up. I've even had a few day shift employees that are too afraid to come back… business has slowed to a crawl as well…" he sounded sad, but Yugi knew he was trying to hide it.

"I'm so sorry, Cecil. If it will help I can drop by on weekends, it really made the kids happy when I was there before."

"Yugi that would be a great help, you can even keep the tokens card."

"Thanks Cecil! I guess I'll see you Saturday!"

* * *

That Saturday he and Atem walked into the pizzeria, smiled and responded to Toy Freddy as they had before. After listening to his speech they confidently walked into the arcade and got bombarded with children, who they dared to guess which of them was the real King of Games. Most of them guessed Atem, but after watching them play some versus matches of various games they made it clear that it could be either one, and thus asked the question again.

"How is one of you so good that _bolth_ of you could be the King of Games!?" one child countered with a question of his own.

"We play so many games together, we're just that good!" Yugi smiled proudly.

"So have you ever lost the title to the not-King of Games?" asked another.

"We honestly don't remember who has the title most of the time. It's not that important to us, because we're such good friends!"

The children all gasped, and started asking them to play another game to decide who it was right now.

"Well, alright, but whoever wins will just lose it again later anyway," Atem shrugged, and the two walked over to the air hockey table. They played a really heated match for what felt like hours to the children, but eventually Yugi walked away the winner.

"Good match, Yugi! But, I'll bet you can't beat my score in pinball!" Atem laughed.

"Yeah alright, just don't tilt the machine!" Yugi replied playfully with a wink. _I can't believe we didn't think of this before, the children seem happy just to watch us play each other!_

* * *

The couple decided to watch the band play on stage again, the presence of the spirits that once possessed them still hanging ever so slightly in the air. Just enough to feel as though they were watching the couple from a better place, a happy place. After the show they grabbed some pizza and sat in Pirate's Cove. Yugi always greeted any wandering animatronics that passed him, soaking in that feeling of joy he had gotten from the place the first time they were here. The difference this time was the knowledge that they had helped eleven children move on and saved them another few decades of pain. They watched Foxy do his songs, Yugi found the bathroom on his own for once but allowed Toy Chika to lead him back to the arcade where he found Atem playing the racing game with all of the multiplayer cabinets filled. They still called the animatronics by their child's names, it felt wrong not to. And despite their previous experience, they held no residual fear of the animatronics. Atem was able to be around Toy Bonnie without wishing for his taser.

Yugi was eventually able to talk Cecil into fixing the Marionette animatronic, largely due to Atem offering up the money it would cost to do so. He was placed next to the prize counter, rigged up to a music box that had a token slot on the front of it. For one token, anybody could wind up the box and let it play. If the entire length of the wind ended before the Marionette was able to pop up, you lost. But, if the puppet did emerge from his box, the player won thirty tokens. It was a fun gamble, both Yugi and Atem tried it out multiple times. But since the entire game was based on luck, even they didn't win too often. But when somebody _did_ win, Pop Goes the Weasel would play and confetti would come out. Every so often the Marionette's face would terrify a smaller child and they would start screaming, but for the most part these added effects and the thrill of winning turned the creepy Marionette into something everybody wanted to see.

Golden Freddy no longer glitched up his dialogue, he acted like any of the other animatronics. Even the phrase recognition began to work properly, so he was able to help the staff by taking the children's buckets of tickets and placing them on his own scale, which was placed on the counter so that they could easily reach the paper that popped out with their ticket count printed on it. The couple always waited for him to do this, no matter how long the line was.

* * *

After a month of these visits the pizzeria was more popular than ever. Cecil insisted on giving Yugi and Atem some money for their trouble, even when they insisted that it wasn't any trouble. After that Atem decided to quit working at Kaiba's casino. Kaiba took it well enough, but he didn't take the loss at the Dual he was promised much better than usual.

Not long after that Yugi asked Atem to visit James's grave with him.

Yugi kneeled in front of the grave and stared at the tombstone, tears welling in his eyes at his last memory of the man. He laid the bouquet he brought in front of him, "James, can you hear me? I did it. I know I'm late, and I'm sorry, but I- we, Atem, you and I, did it. The children's spirits are in a better place, the animatronics haven't killed anybody and nobody else will ever have to go through what you went through. Thank you so much again for everything you did for me. I hope you're doing well. And I hope your brother is doing well… Send me a sign if you ever change your mind about letting me help, by the way. Um… I'm not sure what else to say… I wish I could have gotten to know you better before… well, I pray that you're happy now too. Thank you so much again," he bowed and stood up, then felt Atem's hand on his shoulder. They stood there a while longer, Atem bid James a silent "thank you" for protecting Yugi, and they decided to head home.

* * *

They both curled up together in bed for the night and cuddled. It didn't take long for Yugi to break the silence, "Thank you for being there for me even when children are trying to kill us, Atem."

"Yugi, you've said that every night for a month now. I appreciate it, but you know I'd do anything for you."

"I do know. But I love hearing it," Yugi snuggled up to Atem's chest, and Atem smiled as he began stroking his hair. "I'd do anything for you too, Atem. Even thank you a million times for something you would have done anyway. Those children are a lot happier because of you. Thank you."

"Because of _you,_ mostly, but I'll admit I did convince a few of them," Atem smirked. Yugi laughed, "I'm still so happy for them. And for all the night guards who never have to figure it out or suffer through it," his voice lost volume as he drifted to sleep.

"I'll be happy so long as you never work the night shift anywhere ever again," Atem chuckled in response, and let himself drift off as well.

* * *

 **Hooray, it is now complete! Thank you so much again for reading, please leave a final review and let me know what you thought! Praise and constructive criticism both welcome!**

 **Also, a very special thank you to AliceCullen3 for commenting on every single chapter!**


End file.
